The Sunday Mail
President Mugabe’s State visit to China last week, quite naturally, attracted a lot of attention in the local and international media.
As usual, the local media were divided among those who believed the visit was important for Zimbabwe’s economic development on the one hand, and those who saw it as a waste of time on the other hand.
The international media were equally divided. Large sections of the Western media painted it as “a dictator’s last throw of the dice for a struggling economy”.
However, it was heartening to see another line of debate emerging, even within the traditionally anti-Zimbabwe Press.
This line was to the effect that Zimbabwe was simply doing what everyone else is increasingly doing, which is looking to China for an economic hand up.
Between December 2013 and mid this year, Britain’s David Cameron has been to China twice: that is two visits in roughly six months.
The Americans always have one delegation or the other in Beijing, as do the Germans, French, Russians, Brazilians and all other economic players of note.
Why then should Zimbabwe feel apologetic about merely continuing with its long-standing good ties with China?
The fact is China offers the world’s largest market for exports, and the safest best for FDI in a global village horribly dominated by inequity when it comes to relations between developed and developing countries.
Even the West cannot rely on its own ingenuity anymore and needs China in one way or the other.
That having been said, it is of extreme importance that Zimbabwe makes the most of its warm ties with China.
Several deals were inked last week, and how we follow up on them and implement them should be our primary concern, especially within the context of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation and longer-term development and growth aspirations.
These deals transcend the sectors of energy, transport and communications, agriculture, and water and sanitation, among others.
Inasmuch as China’s government and firms from that country are willing to invest in Zimbabwe’s development, Zimbabweans must also be willing to invest their minds, time, energy and resources in this as well.
China alone will not pull us up. We must be prepared to fully implement agreements and derive the greatest possible value from them.
We have had cases before where deals fail to deliver on their promise either because of our inefficiencies or due to corruption in implementation.
The Farmers World debacle, which left Government with a huge — and embarrassing debt — is a case in point.
For a rich harvest to be reaped from these engagements, it is crucial that the politicians give the technocrats sufficient room and support to implement the deals without undue meddling.
The national interest, which in this case can be broadly referred to as our development agenda, should come before all other sectarian and individual considerations.
Government, through its various departments and parastatals, must show real commitment to ensuring the deals that President Mugabe has clinched translate into tangible benefits for the ordinary Zimbabwean.
These deals provide an ideal opportunity to see the efficacy of the results-based management programme Government has adopted.
Officials must be measured against how well they push implementation of these deals forward, over and above the normal assessments required by results-based management.
It is not enough to applaud President Mugabe for securing these deals; we must all do our bit to ensure they bring development to our Zimbabwe.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: We all have a role to play
The Sunday Mail
President Mugabe’s State visit to China last week, quite naturally, attracted a lot of attention in the local and international media.
As usual, the local media were divided among those who believed the visit was important for Zimbabwe’s economic development on the one hand, and those who saw it as a waste of time on the other hand.
The international media were equally divided. Large sections of the Western media painted it as “a dictator’s last throw of the dice for a struggling economy”.
However, it was heartening to see another line of debate emerging, even within the traditionally anti-Zimbabwe Press.
This line was to the effect that Zimbabwe was simply doing what everyone else is increasingly doing, which is looking to China for an economic hand up.
Between December 2013 and mid this year, Britain’s David Cameron has been to China twice: that is two visits in roughly six months.
The Americans always have one delegation or the other in Beijing, as do the Germans, French, Russians, Brazilians and all other economic players of note.
Why then should Zimbabwe feel apologetic about merely continuing with its long-standing good ties with China?
The fact is China offers the world’s largest market for exports, and the safest best for FDI in a global village horribly dominated by inequity when it comes to relations between developed and developing countries.
Even the West cannot rely on its own ingenuity anymore and needs China in one way or the other.
That having been said, it is of extreme importance that Zimbabwe makes the most of its warm ties with China.
Several deals were inked last week, and how we follow up on them and implement them should be our primary concern, especially within the context of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation and longer-term development and growth aspirations.
These deals transcend the sectors of energy, transport and communications, agriculture, and water and sanitation, among others.
Inasmuch as China’s government and firms from that country are willing to invest in Zimbabwe’s development, Zimbabweans must also be willing to invest their minds, time, energy and resources in this as well.
China alone will not pull us up. We must be prepared to fully implement agreements and derive the greatest possible value from them.
We have had cases before where deals fail to deliver on their promise either because of our inefficiencies or due to corruption in implementation.
The Farmers World debacle, which left Government with a huge — and embarrassing debt — is a case in point.
For a rich harvest to be reaped from these engagements, it is crucial that the politicians give the technocrats sufficient room and support to implement the deals without undue meddling.
The national interest, which in this case can be broadly referred to as our development agenda, should come before all other sectarian and individual considerations.
Government, through its various departments and parastatals, must show real commitment to ensuring the deals that President Mugabe has clinched translate into tangible benefits for the ordinary Zimbabwean.
These deals provide an ideal opportunity to see the efficacy of the results-based management programme Government has adopted.
Officials must be measured against how well they push implementation of these deals forward, over and above the normal assessments required by results-based management.
It is not enough to applaud President Mugabe for securing these deals; we must all do our bit to ensure they bring development to our Zimbabwe.
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