Online Reporter
Communion with Bishop Lazarus
Bishop Lazi was wrong for betting that the conflict between the United States and Iran was all but over.
It seems crap has hit the fan again.
In his political calculation — or rather miscalculation — the Bishop woefully underestimated US President Donald Trump’s king-sized ego, hubris, recklessness and naivete.
You simply cannot bomb a country the size of Iran into submission.
It is preposterous!
It seems the 60-day ceasefire between Iran and the US agreed upon in June 2026 fell apart on July 8 as America strenuously sought to win at the negotiating table that which it had failed to accomplish militarily.
Rather absurdly, through the resumption of hostilities, it now seeks to achieve militarily that which it also failed at the negotiating table.
It is simply a festival of absurdities.
But worryingly for the world, this now has all the makings and hallmarks of another intractable conflict.
We have already seen how hostilities in this part of the world, which is the main source of fuel, have the potential to disrupt and upend lives and livelihoods around the world through upheavals associated with high oil prices.
News last week that the Houthis of Yemen had entered the conflict, thereby threatening shipping in the Red Sea, is equally concerning, as it tightens the chokehold over global supply chains by closing off the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb — a major global chokepoint between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
It temporarily pushed oil prices to over US$100 per barrel — the highest since May.
If this trend continues, it might result in some pain, but not as painful as when the conflict initially broke out in February this year.
Our threshold and tolerance for pain is now relatively higher.
You see, the ability to adapt is the key attribute that has made human beings survive and thrive for more than 300 000 years as a species.
So, it is a sure bet that we will definitely be able to ride out the next oil price shock.
A new political specie
But the lesson that we learnt after the initial oil price shock in the aftermath of the US and Israeli attack on Tehran on February 28 was the nature and character of the Second Republic as the country’s evolutionary political creature.
Rather than pander to populist whims and opt for the easy way out — often politically convenient and expedient in the short term but ruinous in the long term — President ED’s administration chose to be pragmatic by reviewing prices in tandem with developments on the international market, as well as revising blending thresholds of ethanol in petrol.
Fuel taxes were also slashed to somewhat cushion consumers, which helped make the fuel prices tolerable.
Unlike in other jurisdictions, where debilitating stockouts and shortages were experienced, supplies in Zimbabwe continued to be guaranteed. The economy responded accordingly, as economic growth in the first three months of the year rose by 6,8 percent, compared to 4,4 percent in the same period last year.
These numbers need to be put into perspective.
It has to be remembered that Zimbabwe’s economy grew by a remarkable 8,3 percent last year, and, judging from current evidence, which also includes the exponential growth being experienced in mining exports, the economy is expanding at a relatively faster pace than in 2025.
All told, it means that in all likelihood, our ambitious target to have a developed, highly industrialised and prosperous country in four years is achievable.
Economic growth is clearly accelerating.
As a country, we are writing a very beautiful story. It started with the painful, widely unpopular but largely successful economic restructuring process — the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (from October 2018 to December 2020) — followed by the first five-year economic blueprint under the Second Republic, the National Development Strategy 1 (January 2021-December 2025), which has since given way to the NDS2.
Curse of the US dollar
At its core, the current economic plan is premised on promoting industrialisation through sweating, beneficiating and adding value to our abundant mineral resources.
Hugely inconveniencing disruptions in supply chains caused by the war in Ukraine and the flare-up in the Middle East have, more than ever, strengthened Zimbabwe’s resolve to locally manufacture and produce the goods and services that it ordinarily has the capacity to produce.
Last week’s revelations that the country is spending more than US$2,5 billion importing goods and services that can be ordinarily produced locally is a good starting point to scope out a viable import-substitution strategy.
But any self-respecting economist worth their weight in gold would know that it is relatively cheaper to import rather than manufacture or produce competitive goods and services in a dollarised environment.
You cannot expect goods produced in an environment where everything, from utilities to labour, is predominantly charged in US dollars, to be competitively priced in the market.
It simply cannot happen.
Bishop Lazarus will be blunt: In order for us to be the manufacturing hub that we are aspiring to be, and for us to have a solid footprint on both the regional and international markets, we need to ultimately ditch the US dollar.
Simple!
We are fortunately well on our way on that journey. It started with the re-introduction of the local currency, Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), on April 5, 2024, which has happily enjoyed unprecedented stability since September 2024, with inflation down to single-digit level.
It also started earlier on October 9, 2022, when ED announced a new policy requiring companies mining gold, diamonds, lithium and platinum group metals to pay part of their royalties in refined metal rather than cash.
This has since grown the country’s foreign currency reserves to a humungous US$1,6 billion, enough to cover the country’s imports for close to 18 months.
Hypothetically, it means if Zimbabwe does not generate even a single cent in exports from now on, it can still survive while maintaining the current level of imports until January 2028.
Impressive, right? Kikikikikiki.
And one of the most positive signs of late is the modicum of safety and assurance one has in holding and transacting in ZiG, whose status as a medium of exchange and store of value is increasingly being entrenched.
This week, Mthuli Ncube, the country’s purse-bearer, will likely expand ZiG-only taxes and broaden the range of public sector goods and services that can be bought using the local currency — all designed to promote its wider use.
It is expected to be one of the major highlights of this week’s Mid-Term Budget and Review Statement. We definitely know what needs to be done and how it has to be done and all that is needed is to have it done.
Proverbs 24 verse 3 to 4 says: “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”
Verses 13-14 adds: “Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Local content
Mangaliso Ndlovu and Polite Kambamura, two ministers who hold critical portfolios in industry and mining, respectively, from which much is expected, have their work cut out.
The Local Content Policy, which promotes the procurement and consumption of local goods and services, critically needs to be translated from policy to action.
The legal framework already exists.
Equally, the big battle will be in mining, where we have been exporting jobs and wealth in the form of raw minerals.
It has long been established that fixing Africa’s development paradox and conundrum, through which it remains dirt-poor but resource-rich, would necessarily involve establishing industries to locally beneficiate our minerals, a process that creates jobs and drives economic growth and prosperity.
Through sheer boldness, the Government has since made its play by banning the export of raw minerals, particularly lithium, and actively pushing for the establishment of processing and refining plants in Zimbabwe, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the shipment of high-value materials — if not finished products.
Zimbabwe stands to benefit more from manufacturing lithium batteries, which can also be ideally used for renewable energies, than exporting lithium sulphate. Thanks to our wise leadership, we are well down that road.
Zimbabwe’s future is bright!
Bishop out!
