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Morris Mpala, MoB Capital Ltd
THE above oxymoron has been confusing a lot of people.

It has baffled researchers alike both within and without Zimbabwean borders. A country pregnant with so much potential but never to be realised. So much hope and zeal but prosperity eludes her as an economic nation. A once promising nation but now a nation on its economic knees. Once the food basket of the continent now no longer.

Great Dyke curse
The biggest gift God gave Zimbabwe but we don’t mine our own diamonds, gold, coal etc but some foreign investors do it for us. Where we mine it’s all exported as raw materials only to be imported at 100 times the original value.

Many educated nationals
We still lack knowledgeable cadres despite having a well educated populace. We lack practical managers with the entire skill base at our disposal. With so many failed companies one wonders what these “educated” people are doing in our economy. So many “educated fools” but dogged with so many socio-economic challenges. I thought education is there to offer solutions to community challenges. We have graduates but companies are closing and unemployment at an all time high. We have a comprehensive parallel cellular network infrastructure at the expense of total country coverage especially in remote areas.

Cash crisis with high liquidity
No cash but look at the amount of imports coming through our borders from our own locals. A people that prefers all that is foreign at their own expense. So much liquidity yet there is a cash crisis. So much liquidity yet banks don’t have that liquidity, what irony is that.

Rich agricultural lands
Land is abundant both in quality and quantity but we suffer from food insecurities and lack of food integrity. Yet agricultural colleges are all over the place but our skills base in agriculture is always found wanting.

Tourism gateway
Blessed with all tourist attractions but tourists come via other countries. Our destinations appear on neighbouring countries’ brochures. Foreigners visit the mighty Victoria Falls as package from our neighbours.

Conferences with no resolutions
All those expensive outings in Government and private sector but no tangible, actionable and implementable resolutions. Just talk shows at the expense of the tax payer or corporate bodies. Even if it’s not looking good, people like keeping up appearances. Some people don’t want to be moved from their positions of comfort.

Christian community
A generally religious background but an economy ravaged by corruption, loose values and ethos to the detriment of the entire community. So many religious acts but sinful ways galore, so many corporate governance violations and just so much hate and acrimony at workplaces and political arenas.

Wildlife and natural wonders
With so many natural wonders, one wonder is why hasn’t Zimbabwe capitalised on those? We have enough game to send the Americans wild. We have the Big 5 (elephant, hippo, buffalo, lion and cheetah), which is the envy of all African countries but still can’t develop or attract statistically significant tourists.

The eighth wonder of the world, the mighty Victoria Falls is here on the great Zambezi but we fail to market it extensively. The hills and mountains are here but we fail to turn these into a billion dollar industry.

Great ideas, wrong implementation
What sort of curse is this where we have the best blue prints but little to nil implementation of these. Is this a case of those ideas not originally coming from those mandated to implement. A challenge of those with great ideas having no power and those in power suffering from poverty of ideas like one African professor alluded to in his public lectures.

The young die young
The future is in the hands of old people, how ironic is that? The young not living to be old enough to shape the economic landscape of the country. What a waste of investment resources. The exchange of knowledge is negated or derailed by this dying young phenomenon and where they live longer they lack the temperament to change the community but are wayward to the detriment of the economy due to lack constructive criticism contribution. But here and there they are trying to blame the generation before it.

Blame everyone but ourselves
Everything happening is blamed on everyone and everything but ourselves. But we are responsible for our destiny. We are what we do or not do as a nation and we deserve our captains of industry and our strategic leaders. We have a greater population proportion being women but fewer women in whatever leadership roles.

Way forward
You know what you are supposed to do as an individual, your corporate groupings, your community, your clan, political group, your religious inclination etc. If you don’t then you are the biggest elephant in the room. We are in this scenario because you can’t read the signs.

IF YOU LIVE IN BULAWAYO PLEASE CONSERVE WATER. IF YOU LIVE IN ZIMBABWE PLEASE USE ELECTRICITY SPARINGLY SWITCH OFF SWITCHES (SOS). IF YOU LIVE ON PLANET EARTH PLEASE PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

*Morris Mpala (Mr Brown) is the managing director for MoB Capital Limited, a Bulawayo-headquartered micro-finance organisation with footprint across the country.