Online Reporter
Gibson Mhaka
Zimpapers Politics Hub
SURVIVING economic sanctions is a complex and challenging endeavour.
While diversifying economies, strengthening domestic industries, forging new alliances, and adapting to changing circumstances are widely recognised strategies, transformative and inward-looking policies like the ones spearheaded by the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa have been instrumental in neutralising the impact of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West over the past 24 years.
Home-Grown Solutions and Economic Resilience
The illegal economic sanctions have fundamentally disrupted the country’s ability to access global lines of credit.
To ensure the continuity of Zimbabwe’s developmental agenda, President Mnangagwa’s administration has adopted home-grown innovative development financing models to drive the nation forward.
This inward-looking approach was powerfully affirmed by the recent ZANU PF 22nd National People’s Conference in Mutare.
The gathering was more than just an end-of-year political event; it served as a vanguard of national development and a supreme policy-making platform to critically assess the journey toward Vision 2030.
The resolutions from the conference established the official national position, providing fresh impetus and technical data to SADC member states, ensuring the regional body’s subsequent call for action against sanctions on October 25 was unified, forceful, and backed by a national political directive.
Key Conference Resolutions Driving National Strategy
The resolutions from the conference directly inform the national strategy for mitigating the impact of economic sanctions and act as transformative, inward-looking policies by strengthening domestic capacity and reducing reliance on foreign systems.
These notable resolutions focus on four key areas: Microeconomic Stability, Beneficiation and Value Addition, Infrastructure Development and Utilities, and State of the Economy (Food Security and Nutrition).
Microeconomic Stability
The resolutions on Microeconomic Stability primarily aim to foster self-reliance and confidence in the domestic financial system.
The directive to strengthen and intensify robust support for the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency as the sole legal tender, including for fuel purchases, is a direct move to internalise economic transactions, stabilise the exchange rate, and reduce dependency on foreign currencies, which can be restricted by sanctions.
Promoting formalisation and banking by removing IMTT (intermediate money transfer tax) and reducing bank charges makes ZiG more attractive and accessible, enhancing financial inclusion and anchoring the currency.
Improving the durability and circulation of ZiG notes safeguards market stability.
Crucially, enforcing anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws combats illicit financial flows and speculation activities that sanctions are often designed to target and disrupt while accelerating venture capital for SMEs builds domestic productive capacity that is resilient to external financial shocks.
This collective focus is intended to create a stable, locally-controlled financial environment.
Beneficiation and Value Addition
The strategy of Beneficiation and Value Addition is designed to maximise national wealth from local resources and insulate the economy from external supply chain disruptions.
By implementing policies that discourage the exportation of raw materials without value addition, the Government aims to capture the full economic value of its mineral and agricultural wealth domestically.
This creates local jobs, enhances industrial capacity, and generates higher export revenues from finished products, which are generally less susceptible to sanctions than raw commodities.
For instance, formulating a comprehensive coal mining policy that promotes beneficiation for products like fertiliser, tar, gas, and benzene directly addresses the need for import substitution in critical industrial and agricultural inputs.
Similarly, supporting local manufacturing of solar panels and lithium batteries reduces reliance on imported energy infrastructure, boosting energy security, a vital factor when foreign investment and technology transfer are constrained by sanctions.
Sustaining the ease of doing business initiative supports this shift to value addition by removing trade barriers for local industries.
Infrastructure Development and Utilities
Infrastructure Development and Utilities is a long-term strategy for building a robust, self-sufficient foundation for the economy.
Upgrading and modernising border posts, rehabilitating highways and roads, and revitalising railway infrastructure are vital for efficient domestic and regional trade, reducing transportation costs and the economy’s reliance on often-sanctioned international logistics or ports.
Expediting dam completion (like Gwayi-Shangani and Kunzvi) and maintaining water bodies ensures sustainable water supply for agriculture and industry, critical when climate change adaptation funding and international aid may be restricted.
Prioritising university expansion ensures the nation can train a skilled local workforce to drive technological advancements and self-reliance.
Scaling up renewable energy sources directly addresses energy security and reduces vulnerability to international energy markets.
Accelerating low-cost housing provision is a social strategy that improves livelihoods and indirectly supports national stability and development focus.
State of the Economy (Food Security and Nutrition)
The resolutions focused on the State of the Economy (Food Security and Nutrition) represent a primary strategy of achieving self-sufficiency in food production, a critical area of national security especially vulnerable to sanctions disrupting essential inputs or food imports.
These comprehensive measures are designed to stabilize the agricultural sector and encourage continuous production by directing the Government to clear all outstanding payments owed to farmers and ensuring future deliveries are paid promptly, thus encouraging sustained participation.
Furthermore, the resolutions seek to boost national output by capacitating the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA) and the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) to assist small-scale farmers.
To reduce reliance on potentially costly or unavailable imported processed foods, the strategy includes accelerating the production, value addition, beneficiation, promotion, and consumption of traditional foods to enhance nutrition and improve the health and well-being of citizens, noting the philanthropic and gastronomic tourism efforts by Her Excellency, the First Lady, Cde Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa.
Simultaneously, modernising village business units and expediting new irrigation schemes and the rehabilitation of existing ones directly translates to increased agricultural productivity and food security, making the nation resilient to external pressures on food supply.
To address financing challenges imposed by sanctions, accelerating the implementation of title deeds programmes provides farmers with collateral, unlocking private financing even when international credit lines are inaccessible.
Finally, the strategy ensures quality and safety within the domestic market by adequately capacitating the Consumer Protection Commission of Zimbabwe and other regulatory authorities to monitor the retail sector and safeguard consumers from counterfeit and unsafe products.
Presidential Affirmation at Anti-Sanctions Day
President Mnangagwa’s full speech at the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day commemorations in Harare on Saturday solidified the national position and celebrated the effectiveness of the Second Republic’s policies.
Despite the effects of illegal sanctions, the President highlighted the national economy’s positive growth trajectory.
“Under the Second Republic, we continue to register notable increases in foreign currency earnings, marked by export receipts, diaspora remittances and foreign direct investment inflows,” he said.
He further noted the resilience and growth shown by the manufacturing, mining, infrastructure development, energy, and tourism and hospitality sectors.
“Zimbabwe is Open for Business, and concrete measures to improve the ease of doing business in our country are ongoing,” he added.
President Mnangagwa underscored that the nation’s future rests squarely in the hands of its people, echoing the national development philosophy: “Nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, inonamatigwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa, libuswe, likhulekelwe ngabanikazi balo.”
He stressed that this philosophy emboldens the nation as it faces “challenges and shocks such as these illegal heinous sanctions, climate change-induced droughts and other public health emergencies.”
He affirmed the collective national resilience, stating, “Us, the Zimbabwean people, are masters of our own destiny. The flame of our independence, freedom and sovereignty burns brighter.”
He reiterated the progress made in promoting a self-sufficient and food-secure nation through comprehensive, people-centered agricultural programs and projects.
Zimbabwe’s strategy for surviving economic sanctions under the Second Republic, championed by President Mnangagwa, centres on a determined shift towards transformative, inward-looking policies.
The resolutions from the ZANU PF 22nd National People’s Conference, covering Microeconomic Stability, Beneficiation and Value Addition, Infrastructure Development, and Food Security, provide the comprehensive domestic blueprint necessary to build resilience.
As President Mnangagwa affirmed at the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day commemorations, this home-grown approach, driven by the philosophy, “Nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, inonamatigwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe liyakhiwa, liyabuswa njalo liyathandazelwa ngabanikazi balo,” ensures the nation maintains a positive growth trajectory despite external pressures, ultimately asserting that the future of the country rests squarely in the hands of the Zimbabwean people.
