Zimpapers Logo

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

It is exactly a week to go for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to attain 100 days since his inauguration on November 24.

Two weeks in advance, the President took to social media to review his “first 100 days in office” in a two-minute video he posted on his Facebook page on Friday last week.

He highlights the economic, social and diplomatic achievements his administration has scored over the past 93 days. Most people have been debating the health of the economy today compared to how it was when he took over following the resignation of Cde Robert Mugabe.  The economy is indeed of much interest given the challenges we have endured since 2000, a cumulative result of illegal Western economic sanctions, frequent droughts and a few wrong policies taken by the old administration.

He says:

“Across all areas it has been a time of action. On the economy, we passed a bold responsible Budget that cut huge swathes of waste, scaled back the Indigenisation Act to open the economy to investment, facilitated greater use of mobile money to combat the cash crisis and to cut excise duty on petrol and small bank transfers.

“On corruption, the phrase zero tolerance approach has been backed up by action. We instituted a three-month amnesty to get back stolen funds, mandated all Cabinet ministers to declare assets, created dedicated anti-corruption courts in all provinces and clamped down on police roadblocks.

“Internationally, we have been working hard to build our international relations and bring in investment and so far we have secured                                     US$3 billion of investment commitments from some of the biggest companies in the world and in terms of human development we have ensured free health care for vulnerable groups while increasing the health and education budgets dramatically.

“We must of course be realistic and recognise that it takes more than 100 days to recover an economy. Real change takes some time. I know there are those among you who are frustrated at the pace of change and I understand that. But let me assure you that though we have had some major achievements this is just the beginning.

“After 100 days of action we are on the right path and we keep working to increase the pace of reform. Together we will build a new, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe for all.”

We agree with the President that his administration has built a strong foundation that will get the economy working again going forward.

He has pulled the country out of 17 years of isolation.  The Government has dropped the self-defeating belligerence of old by building bridges with Western powers that held our country as a pariah. He has made encouraging remarks about Europe and America, while, of course maintaining the vibrant relations the people of Zimbabwe have with their neighbours in Sadc, Africa at large and Asia. Our former enemies, particularly America, Britain and the European Union have welcomed the stance he has taken. They are sending high level delegations to strengthen diplomatic, trade and investment relations.

Last month, the President attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a strategic world stage at which he marketed his country. Some of the world’s richest companies are making strong inquiries about investing in the country and soon we are confident the results will begin to show on the ground.

Also, some business and economic plans that had stalled before his rise to power have now been finalised. Key among them is the $600 million nostro stabilisation facility promised by Afreximbank. It was supposed to be delivered many months ago, but perhaps because of the negative signals from our country at the time, the deal never materialised. It only did in December last year, weeks after the new administration took over and has been scaled up to $1,5 billion.

Another that appeared to have stalled is the $400 million National Railways of Zimbabwe-Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group/Transnet deal.

Negotiations started well before November, but a breakthrough was proving elusive. It was only consummated a few days ago when the NRZ took delivery of some rolling stock to be used to begin reviving the important parastatal.

Civil servants are now receiving their salaries with some consistency in the month worked unlike in the past when they were paid days into the following month.

Yet another important highlight of President Mnangagwa’s government is the positive sentiment that is among our people. The past 37 years were characterised by economic and social hardships without much hope for a respite.  Now the despondency is being replaced by hope for economic recovery anchored on the sound policies that President Mnangagwa has been implementing since last November.  The positivity is also among the international community which has warmed up to the President’s commitment to embrace them, not to continue in the rigid isolationist stance of the past order.

We must also state that people have regained some freedoms that were lacking in the past. The people are free to criticise their Government, even carrying out protests that were frequently crushed before.

It is however, obvious that putting the economy back on even keel cannot be achieved in 100 days.  It cannot be achieved in a year if one considers the depth to which the economy had fallen. What is critical and plausible is the basis for a take-off that President Mnangagwa’s government has laid, one on which it will certainly build in the next few years for economic recovery and growth.