Take charge of economy now

that he had seen of Zimbabwe was a far cry from the perception that he had.
He is a professional who hails from the south side of Chicago in Illinois and grew up in a black community where Africa meant a mass land occupied by one tribe, one culture and one vision.

I was therefore convinced that as Africans we still have a humongous task of demystifying the “one size fits all” perceptions about Africa that is prevalent overseas.

Ironically, he is a graduate of Economic History but the teachings he received failed to define the world map for him.

As Zimbabwe celebrated 33 years of independence exactly a week ago, we need to do more to market Zimbabwe to the likes of Marshal.

While still on the issue of independence I spoke to several people and the feeling is that after 33 years Zimbabweans are ready to take charge of the economy.

At 33, Zimbabwe should be independent enough to define its course. However, this should be made possible with astute, hard work and rational thinking which will see all nationals getting their portion of the country’s wealth as enunciated in the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.

It is also critical that we all heed the call by President Mugabe to shun corruption and violence.
It is sad to note that 33 years after independence there are some individuals that still believe they have to line their pockets first before serving others.

This is totally unacceptable and it is high time the nation realises that every resource in Zimbabwe belongs to its nationals, no one has a divine right to divert State resource for personal use. In bookkeeping it is called drawings but at national accounts level, it is a clear case of corruption.

A lot of progress has been made since independence notably on the education front as we managed to build arguably the richest human resource base in the continent, with a literacy rate of over 90 percent. Zimbabwe has more than 13 universities serving about 13 million people and there is equal opportunities for men and women at workplaces and almost no traces of racism if one is to make a comparison with other African nations.

It is quite impressive to notice that the journey the nation has travelled is a long and fruitful one. It is the national cake we need to share equally as our population continues to grow.

Independence means unity of purpose. It symbolises a shared history for a common people and it reminds us that we are all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliations, creed, race and ideologies.

Literary, when a man is born, from age 0 to 30, we say good morning life, 30 to 60 it is good afternoon life and 60 years and over is good evening life.

Since Zimbabwe has just turned 33, it is pleasing to address it in the good afternoon sense.
The same age brackets can be classified into learning, earning and yearning years, which by implication means Zimbabwe is in its earning moments.

With elections around the corner, the next Government has its work cut out. The existing multi-currency regime is not sustainable as it has imposed a liquidity crunch which cannot be corrected given the current political relations between Harare and the Western capitals.

The economic fundamentals need to be addressed in a timely manner as we can lose another decade if we do not act fast.

To enjoy economic stability which was brought about by the demonetisation of our domestic currency is tantamount to living on borrowed time and false hope, once you dare to reintroduce the local unit, it will become apparent that no progress has been made since 2009. Indeed, our idependence is being celebrated under an unfair playing field as we are forced to eat what we kill while in some instances we are not enjoying our kill.

We certainly cannot be another biblical Esau who will proceed to buy the meat he had hunted from his brother, Jacob. This is despite the fact that Esau was a hunter who spent most of his time in the bush while the brother spent his time in the comfort of their father’s tents. However, since independence, a lot of progress has been made in Zimbabwe with locals having control over most of the capital stock in the land.

The agrarian reform is now a success story with the increasing number of communal and A1 farmers turning to tobacco farming bearing testimony of this.

This group of farmers is now the backbone of our tobacco sector which is now one of the country’s biggest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product.

The progress made so far in Zimbabwe is quite commendable save for a few grey areas which need a review. Our economic policies such as indigenisation are well structured but my advice is that this law should not be applied in a blanket manner.

This is one of the landmark policies which define Zimbabwe going into the future which means at 33 years, it is our firm belief that our nation exercise maturity and caution in the implementation of the noble exercise.

Thank you and God bless you.

Christopher Takunda Mugaga is an economist. He is the Head of Research for Econometer Global Capital, a regional finance and economics research firm. He can be contacted on +263 772 340 353 / +263 776 266 062 or: [email protected]