South-South the way to go

A worst case scenario of the foregoimg is the current economical and political confrontation between Zimbabwe and a pugnacious, paternalistic and imperialist West attempting to brow-beat this country into submission and in that way reverse the agrarian reform programme meant to restore land from whites to blacks for whom that asset is an unquestionable inheritance.

In the enemy’s hell-bent efforts to ostracise Zimbabwe from the world community as a last-ditch bid to exact regime change, Britain, the United States and their continental European cousins might even go so far as to impose selective sanctions on their own companies to force them to disinvest from Zimbabwe so that the economy might “scream” to death as a result.

Come to think of it, any other African country, particularly those that wrested power from imperialists through the gun, might be subjected to the same harsh treatment visited upon Zimbabwe should they take revolutionary measures economically and politically to benefit their own people, and through measures demonstrate to the rest of the world that freedom and independence mean giving their own people a brave new future, whether imperialists like it or not. In such savage dog-eat-dog situations – and Zimbabwe can testify to the brutal nature of big brother, – poor hugging, poor for solace, encouragement and survival, cannot fail to attract the goodwill of the Most High God. Such South-South cooperation is a vital option for poor nations to prop up one another along the path of economic and social development.

Contextually, therefore, the Zimbabwe-South Africa Investment Conference scheduled to take place in Africa’s biggest economy from April 3 to 4 ignites real hope of unstoppable success in inter-state, even intra-state, economic cooperation on the African continent. If in the end, next month’s conference proves a boon to investment in this country; a real possibility exists that companies from the West that have shied away from Zimbabwe and invested heavily in South Africa might cross over to do business in this country attracted by lucrative, tourism and other potentially irresistible investments. Africa Exchange, the firm organising the April event, described the conference as a signature event for

Zimbabwe in its endeavour to attract more investors and building partnerships with local companies in the process.
Partnerships between foreign and local companies are an important scenario in international relations, especially where some countries choose visibility as a way of registering their presence in a smaller economy. On the other hand, partnerships do yield handsome economic and social dividends for less developed nations, such as Zimbabwe and others elsewhere. While the uninitiated will say a company in a developing country stands to lose lot of foreign currency in salaries paid to managers of a foreign company involved in a partnership, that is however, offset by huge benefits from the foreign partnership company. For instance, there is the advantage of a vertical transfer of high technology from the foreign parent company of a partner to the local firm. The technology helps to sharpen the skills of local workers and no one can take away knowledge imparted to another person, which becomes of one’s country.

For the foreign partner guaranteed security is a bonus for its investment, of which only those ignorant of the benefits derived from partnerships will frown. Zimbabwe is richly endowed with minerals and other natural resources such as tourism and so on.

Add to that our renowned hospitality and highly educated people to provide requisite skills in various investment areas and which should act as irresistible draw cards to investors from even those countries that have put themselves at loggerheads with this country for really no good reason when all things are considered in a realistic manner.