The Sunday Mail
Dr Mungai Lenneiye
In 2017, Zimbabwe was obviously the hottest news in Africa and the global hype still lingers. A lot of people worldwide are still trying to understand Zimbabwe after the transition.
The big question is: what does all this mean for the economy?
Three important issues stick out as the country heads to the extremely important World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Firstly, Zimbabwe used to be about Robert Mugabe. Suddenly, Mugabe is no longer on stage and this man who was Vice-President and not well-known globally is at the helm. This is a perfect opportunity for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to market himself. A President is the carrier of a country’s brand. The world does not know Mnangagwa much and many even struggle to pronounce his surname.
I hope people in Davos will say of President Mnangagwa, “I can do business with this man.” That’s all we want.
If people say he was convincing and not selling hot air, they will be able to say that.
And saying I can do business with Emmerson Mnangagwa means “I can do business with Zimbabwe”.
Secondly, he is taking officials, including ministers. Like other Presidents, he might not be available to a lot of people, so ministers will speak to more people. Therefore, the message should be the same throughout.
Ministers travelling with him really need to understand his message.
The most important thing President Mnangagwa did at last Thursday’s preparatory meeting for Davos was launch investment guidelines.
I’m glad he did this as he can say, “I am coming to say invest in Zimbabwe because already, our people in Zimbabwe are investing in their country. Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are also investing at home. So, it is now up to you, the international community, to also invest.”
The third message is to businesspeople travelling with the President. Zimbabwe has its problems, but then again, no country in the world has no problems. The point is that we should not wash our dirty linen in public. In Davos, businesspeople should not spend time complaining.
They should be in tandem with the President and say, “Yes, there might be some problems, but there are also many advantages in Zimbabwe.”
This will encourage international businesspeople to come. As President Mnangagwa has rightly said, the message should be: we are open for business and want to be part of the international community in ways that we haven’t been in the past 20 years. President Mnangagwa made another important point; that we should do everything in the national interest.
He was right in saying land redistribution is not going to be thrown out.
In the national interest, the Land Reform Programme is irreversible, but how we implement it reinforces good business practices, governance and security.
It was, therefore, important that he mentioned this. Yes, we are going to engage, but mindful of our national interest.
Another key point in his delivery concerned parastatals. Businesses have been clamouring for parastatals to be sold. However, his message was don’t rush; let’s study the matter. His view is you cannot rush me into selling something when I have not yet assessed the right price. His point was give me time to research and establish my company’s worth. If you want me to privatise, let me find the real value; give us time and don’t rush us. My deduction was the need to understand our parastatals; how to fix them. Here’s an example. If you are going to sell a company such as NetOne, you need to be careful on the price because it is of high value. Indeed, time should be accorded to studying parastatals. A timetable of doing things entails indepth assessment.
Expectations
The immediate expectation is good publicity and goodwill for Zimbabwe, and the country should market itself as a prime tourist destination. People will be interested in privatisation and commercialisation. There will also be issues regarding how Zimbabwe intends to meet its debt obligations. Davos is not only about the current (situation) but image that a country portrays by saying it is ready for business.
Zimbabweans should see this as an investment for the medium-term; not four or five months’ time.
The forum is pivotal as President Mnangagwa will get an opportunity to establish an international benchmark of doing things. He should stick to his word and worldwide views on Zimbabwe will start changing. History will then record that the President of Zimbabwe came here and this is what he said. And the people will remember what he said and after some months, they will check to see if he is walking the talk. He has been talking to the region, saying the right things.
However, Davos is where he will talk to the world. I feel that by the time we get to the next Davos and President Mnangagwa is able to implement one or two major things he would have said, Zimbabwe will get a positive response and some people’s views will change.
To me, that’s the value of Davos.
It is a branding exercise that would ordinarily cost Zimbabwe hundreds of millions of dollars if it were done through commercial means. The President has been presented with an opportunity with huge potential at minimal cost. What is amazing is that the Davos agenda had already been set when he was inaugurated as President.
Some people then went through a lot of trouble to ensure the agenda accommodated him. This means this is a special opportunity.
Over the years, Zimbabwe has been politically active in Africa. It is now important to hear the voice of the new President of Zimbabwe and show direction.
There was always negative news, but Zimbabwe now has an opportunity to brand itself on a global scale. Once that is achieved, it will take a long time to soil the Zimbabwe brand. This is a great opportunity for President Mnangagwa to pitch the Zimbabwe brand as high as he can.
The country has a very high political brand, yet, its economic brand remains low. President Mnangagwa should raise the economic brand to the same level as the political brand.
Many people around the world know Zimbabwe because of its political history. They should now get to know the economic potential of the country.
We need to forget hyperinflation and show that we are now on a new trajectory where we can use our political brand to market our economic brand.
I see the World Economic Forum at the same level as the United Nations in terms of global significance. The WEF is the UN Summit of global economics.
It is the highest summit of economic branding. The UN is the highest level of political assembly and I know Zimbabwe has taken its political branding to a high level before at the UN.
Now is the time to achieve the same in the economic sphere.
I believe that even if Zimbabwe gets its economic branding to half the level of its political branding, it would have achieved milestones. These are very exciting times for the country. It’s a time of hope and you should turn the hope into certainty.
I would like to see the world say we are going to do business with Zimbabwe.
Many people know former President Robert Mugabe more because of his political branding, but President Mnangagwa has an opportunity to be known for his economic branding.
There are a lot of middle-class people who work through investment companies. This is the class of people that may not comprise billionaires but millionaires willing to invest. They have quite a lot of money which they cannot invest on their own, but do so through investment companies that venture into developing markets.
Big international corporations and the world’s biggest banks will also be represented. It’s important to send the right message to them; that Zimbabwe is ready for business.
Dr Mungai Lenneiye is Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Business Club. He is a former World Bank country head for Zimbabwe and has worked as a development economics expert in several African countries. He was speaking to The Sunday Mail’s Chief Reporter Kuda Bwititi in Harare last week.
