We need paradigm shift to achieve US$100bn target

As debate rages over Zimbabwe’s drive towards achieving a US$100 billion economy by 2030, there is need for all stakeholders to play their part and build consensus. In this article, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Joseph Kanyekanye discusses some of challenges facing this vision.
Botswana’s reputed diamond wealth translates to about US$2,6 billion per year and accounts for roughly 50 percent of the government’s annual revenue.
Unofficial figures for Zimbabwe suggest potential revenues of US$2 billion per annum out of Marange diamonds alone!
Infrastructure developments in Botswana suggest that the money is being used properly. Perhaps a telling sign why this works is the statement by Debswana board chairman Nicky Oppenheimer who said: “As board members it is our responsibility to our shareholders (among whom we include each and every citizen of Botswana) to ensure that we maximise the value of every diamond we produce.”
I am not yet done on Botswana . . . not yet.
Last week I was looking at an area my company could lease in Gaborone. The elderly owner convened a meeting on site with my staff for Altim Timbers Botswana. To my surprise, he also brought his wife, daughters, sons and grandchildren. The father opened the dialogue and all participated including the grandchildren. In about 40 minutes, the family came up with a consensus position right in front of my staff, shook hands with us and left with the deal sealed.
Professor Hawkins, who forced MBAs into a lot of us years ago, never taught us about this. The point I am making is simple: Zimbabwe has resources to build a US$100 billion economy plus better educated people than most of our neighbours but we lack a national drive to work by consensus.
We apparently lack a rallying view of what can be done and often focus on petty political battles. We seem to lack an understanding that a Chinese philosopher who lived a long time ago knew. His name was San Tzu and he rightly put it across that the greatest general in war is one who wins without fighting. As a nation, we are often unnecessarily confrontational.
The Business Diary of December 2010 gives a concise round-up of economic developments in Africa which are worth repeating. The IMF gave Kenya a US$500 million extended credit facility, African Development Bank put in US$810 million into a Climate Investment Fund for Africa while IFC invested 80 million euros in equity in a cement company in Egypt plus US$260 million to finance broadband access to Africa.
Kuwait donated US$500 million for the development of East Sudan. Closer home, Anadarko announced its third major gas discovery in Mozambique in addition to another discovery in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin. The point of this digression is to highlight what can happen in Zimbabwe.
I reiterate my thrust that I refuse to accept that Zimbabwe cannot overcome this and achieve a US$100 billion economy. Africa, to include Zimbabwe, is the last frontier for resources especially minerals, energy and arable land in the face of the world population which is expected to grow to 9,2 billion people by 2050.
We need to be globally compliant and competitive to attract investment. We have hardworking citizens but we need to realign our politics, strategies and communication to support investment. We should accept that the national debt of around US$7 billion is beyond our capacity to pay on current Government income streams hence a call for innovative strategies to unlock funding.
It is argued that leveraging our mineral resources must happen now to deal with debt. This simply requires a rallying cry at Government level, passion to make a difference by our MPs and educated volunteers within our mining sector. Only then can we claim our sovereignty with dignity and honour. When we pay our debts, we can confidently talk to the world and receive investors who will take us seriously.
It is also important that we demote politics from being a national occupation in favour of the economy. A colleague recently highlighted the folly of politics in the way it works. He suggested that the world over politics operates on three speeds – slow, very slow and stop. Zimbabwe cannot afford any of these speeds if we sincerely want to surpass Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana’s GDPs that are above Zimbabwe hence the need to act with speed towards a US$100 billion economy.
When a Chinese investment delegation visited Zimbabwe in January 2011 dangling US$10 billion investment possibilities, we did not manage this well. Where is the investment going to take place? In a world of Facebook, Twitter and the Internet?
Government and business should have met and prepared for this visit. We should have identified areas of investment where this country has arguably global competitiveness or low hanging fruits for investment particularly in the mining sector.
We should have charmed the Chinese, given them requisite data on what Zimbabwe (Government plus business) was offering. I would also have made a plea to tap into the funds to correct sluggish current manufacturing growth. This did not happen because of a ruler mentality which does not help towards a US$100 billion economy.
At independence in 1980 we all celebrated with joy for our emancipation and opportunities afforded to the then disadvantaged black people to join mainstream activities.
For that, my generation will always be eternally grateful to men and women who fought to empower us. There is, however, an unfulfilled yet unwritten promise we owe them. In 2030, exactly 50 years after independence, we need to explain what we did with 50 years of independence.
I suggest that our national political and religion leaders need to create a rallying vision for a US$100 billion economy. In 2030, we in business are suggesting a US$100 billion economy would be our modest contribution to the memory of those who fell so that we can rise. Dare we dream differently!
Business will continue to support the GNU. Rather than look at a GNU as a weakness by any political party, we wholeheartedly thank parties to the agreement for putting national interest ahead of party interests. We should avoid wasting this available goodwill by engaging in public posturing and superficial differences ahead of our economic recovery. Zimbabwe needs money to build and rehabilitate infrastructure and industry. If not now, then when?
We hold the view that our politics, business conduct and interactions must work to foster this paradigm shift at all times and in every village. Business acknowledges the valid colonial abuses of the past and sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe outside WTO rules but we should now focus our efforts on finding our way out of this. Property rights or more appropriately land rights cannot be viewed from a distorted picture of Zimbabwean history starting in 2001.
A shorter version of history must look at 1891 when clearly land and cattle were both plundered and expropriated by a private company from a poor and defenceless native population. From such an illegality, no one must surely benefit. Business thus strongly believes these sanctions are inappropriate and do not advance their intended purpose of supposedly promoting democracy.
The new government in Britain offers an opportunity to restore new bilateral relations while the GPA gives our leaders an opportunity to bring our nation together – black and white – towards a sustainable environment that emphasises national interests and economics ahead of politics and self interest.
No nation in the new age can be an island. There is empirical evidence suggesting excellent foreign relations make an economic turnaround easier and quicker than a do-it-alone approach.
In all CZI meetings we had with foreign ministers, ambassadors and multilateral institutions, we have emphasised the need to decouple politics from funding industry and other national issues. CZI is available, if needed, to support Government’s business, friendly policies and initiatives at all times.
We have not always succeeded but we will never stop doing this. We owe it to our children to try. To do otherwise will be a serious indictment of this generation of leaders for not enhancing our necessary economic revival in Zimbabwe.