Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has just returned from yet another overseas jaunt, this time Qatar, where we are told he signed “many many deals” with both the Qatari government and business leaders.
Only last week, a high powered nine-member delegation of top business people from China arrived in Zimbabwe to conclude a $1.2bn deal, one of “many many deals” Mnangagwa harvested from the Chinese government and companies when he visited China about a month ago.
In addition to concluding their billion-dollar deal in tourism and hospitality, the Chinese delegation was also reconnoitering on behalf of “17 Chinese billionaires who are slated to arrive in Zimbabwe in June”.
Since Mugabe’s ouster, many companies from both the East and the West, have shown a high level of interest in investing in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has already hosted executives from some of America’s largest companies, like General Electric. Delegations, including some from European Union countries, not to mention those from the East, continue to arrive in Zimbabwe.
Now, many of the deals being signed are with countries from the east because they do not care as much about human rights as Americans and Europeans do.
Many deals are being signed yet there is hardly anything to show for it.
These billion-dollar deals should by now have started showing an uptick in employment, however slight.
The rush to sign deals because, as Mnangagwa monotonously says, “Zimbabwe is open for business”, is driven by wanting to show a difference between his government and that of deposed president Robert Mugabe.
But what kind of deals are being signed? Does anyone really take the time to read these arrangements before committing the nation to these deals?
I bet not – because, for starters, there is a sickening habit of African leaders appointing lawyers to run agriculture ministries while agronomists are appointed to deal with industry and technology.
In Zimbabwe, for instance, our Minister of Finance and Economic Planning is a lawyer while a retired Air Force officer is serving as Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement.
We always put people in ministries where they are students rather than being teachers.
How many times do we see economists stuck in ministries of education and social scientists stuck in industry and technology?
On top of that the Chinese, for example, are seasoned takers; they never give but take and take and take, all the time smiling at you.
The Chinese create very little employment in countries they “invest” in. Their deals include an understanding that they would be bringing their own workers, thereby employing very few locals and, when they do, they employ locals in menial jobs at these “companies”.
They ensure that the deals they offer permit them to repatriate their earnings back to China.
Besides, the Chinese are active more in areas like construction – areas where “development” is minimal yet investments must promote the economy by equipping locals to carry things forward.
I have listened to academics mourning about the fact that when Africans want to build roads and bridges, they hire Chinese companies, yet they have local engineers and surveyors in their own countries.
This is sad; Africa sends its children to school to become doctors, engineers, scientists, educators, and many more yet fail to afford them when they complete their education.
Africa can afford the Chinese to build its roads while its own engineers are roaming the streets looking for employment and they won’t get hired by the Chinese because the Chinese bring their own.
I am concerned by the flurry of activity as investment deals are being signed day by day because there is a clear lack of planning. These deals are being signed by ministers who are not really schooled in areas they oversee.
Governments must prioritize the protection of its citizens whenever investments deals are signed. And those deals must be signed by people who know exactly what is involved and ensure that the nation gets something out of these investment deals.
For the time I lived in Botswana, there was always talk of Zimbabwe learning from Botswana, Zimbabwe always sending officials to Botswana to glean information about handling diamonds. Botswana was wondering aloud “why export raw material instead of mining and polishing here then export the finished product?”
It took years of careful planning for Botswana to get to that point.
This week, I heard it again that Zimbabwe had approached Botswana for this kind of business intercourse…some sort of joint effort in some areas or something. It will not go anywhere because Zimbabwe is in a hurry and Zimbabwe ignores the basic foundations of careful planning and taking into consideration the most minute of details.
Corruption is impatient, and it is worse in Zimbabwe where $15 billion of money from diamond sales disappeared into thin air.
We keep hearing of Mugabe being summoned to appear before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Mines & Energy, but I wonder what they will get out of the old geezer considering that those in government today are complicit in some of these shenanigans.
It’s their turn now and they also want to loot like they saw Mugabe and his group do.
The basic foundations are missing, and they can sign investment deals all they want, it will not change anything until a tradition of accountability is instilled and until we are able to account for every cent when asked to.
Last week, the Labour Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe released its study which showed that, between 1994 and 2014, “1.14 million people have migrated from urban to rural areas due to increasing urban poverty”.
Reasons recorded for this massive movement included “rapid de-industrialisation, deteriorating economic environment and increased unavailability of decent jobs in the urban centers”.
It is only prudent for not only Zimbabwe but all countries to be wary of investment deals signed without a thorough study and understanding of how the deal impacts the country.
The fact that these foreigners are streaming to our shores means that we have something they want. It is only fair to maximize our rewards for the benefit of all citizens.
But, alas, greed and corruption stand in the way and condemn us to a lifetime of servitude for selling our national wealth to others for personal gain not for the nation.
And, you have surely heard of Hwange, haven’t you? It’s that little town in western Zimbabwe with enough coal for the world to burn.
It is on sale. Yes, Parliament was informed this week that Hwange Town is on sale for $300 million because the colliery must “raise $300 million for a reboot of its operations and finally settle outstanding wages of $70 million”.
I am sure there are deals that were signed not long ago and they are now maturing for someone in a faraway land somewhere.
