Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to introduce
to you the three personalities we all know and who are in charge
of Zimbabwe’s future. It’s a pleasure to have here on the podium President
Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai the Prime Minister,
and Arthur Mutambara the Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
Mr. President, I would like to add just a personal remark. I had the first time
the pleasure to see you in Davos actually and it was one year after you have taken
on the presidency and of course some of you will remember the Africa summit
which we had in your capital in 1997. It just demonstrates the long relationship
the forum has developed with Africa over the last years. Let me make some
remarks at the outset of this discussion. The forum is a platform, non-political,
neutral, independent. And I think the forum has gained its reputation by having been
the ancient catalyst for constructive dialogue on many occasions over the last 40 years.
So we want to conduct this discussion in the spirit of constructive dialogue.
Second, we are also aware that Zimbabwe is going through some difficulties
in its post-liberation time. We are here in this room only with one wish,
to see domestic peace established and to see economic success and social
progress of the country. We also know that it is at the end the Zimbabweans
themselves who will determine the future. Now we have the three people forming
a coalition and we are all eager to know how you envision the future of Zimbabwe.
And I would like to call first upon you President Mugabe.
Thank you Professor Schwab. May I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude
for having been invited to this session on Zimbabwe?
I stand here as one of the three, this threesome that you see is the threesome
that’s running Zimbabwe at the moment and age wise, perhaps by comparative
degrees, young, younger, and youngest. So there it is. But what’s the background?
Well, well, we are in a country which really has been the cradle, the cradle
of independence, of the independence of various countries, a country which really
has seen the foundation, the makings of what we are as an independent state
in Zimbabwe, what they are in Mozambique as independent, what we are today without
apartheid in South Africa, Namibia, etc and various others. And here was also
the cradle of our own philosophies of how tomorrow after independence, tomorrow
after our struggle we shall run our countries, the political ideas that came our way from
the gurus, the founding members of the OAU, now the African unit or the African Union,
and in this country of course, his ideas and he had ideas about development and ideas
about Africa, all those influences and much more. We had to trust
international, as we waged our struggle, we related to China, we related to Russia,
we related to Cuba, we related to various other countries, we related to even Europe,
Sweden, Norway, the northern countries, and so on. And the use of all these
we examined, we evaluated and they were at… to influence us. And so as we negotiated
our independence and by that – I mean on that subject, we carried out actually
three negotiating campaigns from… 1976, October to December, Geneva Conference
failed, ’77 --’78 we went to Malta, came to Tanzania, went to Zambia,
that was still… it failed, ’79 October to December and the conservatives succeeded.
And so we got our independence in 1980, April. And what was it to be… about those things
we had fought for… bitterest of all the grievances was the land issue.
We negotiated it with the British, Lord Carrington and the British again read
to find it. In other words the compensation we needed to pay the farmers…
administration had supported, they had also placed financial support. And so we began,
it was the land, land, land, no problem, willing buyer, willing seller,
we had rejected the principle but the British had resubmitted the
constitution the last 10 years. We agreed, after 10 years we changed it, we were now
to acquire a land in the national interest and of course it did much however the…
the constitution now… in the national interest. And that was the main emphasis, land, land,
land to the people as a form of policy, our people economically… than once
in terms of the realization of their sovereignty.
Then along the way, naturally, we decided that other areas must also be addressed.
But although your economic forum, it says it’s purely economic and no politics,
but the individuals during the… are motivated by politics.
And so I have got to make reference to what happened. There were two parties
that fought the struggle, ZAPU and ZANU, and right here in Tanzania.
First of all it was just ZAPU… and ZANU was formed when we were still here…
you are one people, you can't go to Geneva conference as two, unite, we talked,
we united, and other patriotic… went to Geneva in 1976… And as we negotiated
our independence in… 1979, we had Ian Smith and Muzorewa and others.
But when we got our independence, we felt that now that independence
had come and the fact of its coming was the… of victory of the people
of Zimbabwe as we hoped, whether you fought for it or against it, I say it in March 1980,
you are now part of an independent nation of Zimbabwe. We cannot avoid you and
you cannot avoid us, whichever stands during the struggle.
And so let’s now work together, let’s have harmony, and we declared a policy
of national reconciliation and I say “Let us turn our swords into plow sheds,”
in my speech. And so I say to Ian Smith “Is the expense we fought against you, you
imprisoned me 11 years but let bygones be bygones, as long as we now all are one
and there is a loyalty from every one, our sins of the past stand forgiven,
we may not forget. But allow me to take four men from your side to join us in government”
and we took four men, I made the choice. He said “Now if you're going to take
people from my party, don’t you think I should choose them for you?” I said
“No, I’ll choose them for myself.” So I chose the men I thought were more
liberal and more… and so the fact of working with members of other parties
did not start yesterday. If we could work with members drawn from the
Rhodesia tribe which had oppressed us, what was there to prevent us from working
with them, these young fellows of mine. So there it was and we’re… now.
After the elections of 2008 and there was a… we disputed them, we said we had won…
Tanzania,… , Zambia, and…, Botswana,… Mozambique.
There had also been… of Angola and they were the foundation of… “This dispute about
the elections will definitely ruin the image of your country. Why don’t you
sit down, negotiate, and come up with a government of national unity?”
and they give us a facilitator, South Africa, former president...
We negotiated. We borrowed. We started discovering each other.
We did trust each other and actually we thought we would be killers of each
other but eventually it dawned on us that we were of one thought,
we belong to each other. And yes, there are political differences but
we have that alliance. But unfortunately for us, we are struggling not to remain
turned around by economy and we started to remake, we have created correct political
environments, we talked against violence, we talked against any behavior on the part
of our people which would be inhibitive of the process of unity that we have founded.
And as we do that, we have also experts working on the ideas of how we can turn
around the economy and we have arranged programs, the first one to try and start
the economy once again from… level where it was. But you have the better...
Why the sanctions should be imposed on us, we don’t understand, to tell you the truth
and this from Europe and America and not from the rest of the world and we say
“But we have peace.” We are forging now programs that are meant to improve
the economy to bring about development. True, we have our policies, we want to
embark economically, we would want them naturally to have a… Over the hundred
years the British have ruled us as through the... Our people will remain poor,
poor in…, and now we would want to see how people also share in the ownership
of your resources that’s why we’re being… program.
We say in days that will come, should we prepare?
Naturally, for sharing… in respecting the companies that will be established,
whether in the mining or manufacturing sector and our country should have…
and that’s the program at the moment. People are saying it will drive away
investment and we say “No, it won't.” Fair share amounting to 49% is good enough
and we may discuss much more perhaps when you ask questions and make
other comments. I want to end here. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. President. Prime Minister Tsvangirai.
Well Professor Schwab thank you very much for inviting me to share this unique session.
I want to confirm that indeed the polarization, the acrimony, the relations
between various political actors including between the President and myself is legendary,
legendary in the sense that it almost tore down the country. But I want to confirm
that at the end of the day, when… facilitated the negotiation between various
political actors, there was a realization that there is no winner and no losing
team and that indeed without this shared compromise, Zimbabwe was heading for
a precipice, that was our motivation. So we signed a global political agreement,
we formed a government, and I want to say that the relationship within the
government has produced what is now called the progressive development that has led
to the progress that we enjoy today. The peace, the stability, indeed it means
a barometer of measurement of the progress in the country, it is the people
of Zimbabwe themselves, across the political divide.
Eighty five percent, by the latest poll, supported it… so that is sufficient testimony
to the support this government enjoys so it is… we argue, we differ, but with
deep respect both at a personal level and in government. So what does this mean?
This conference has lauded that this is Africa’s moment. If this is Africa’s moment
then it is also Zimbabwe’s moment and we can launch… of any potential investment
that Africa is going to attract. As for capital itself, my message is very
simple, forget about the so-called… risk in Zimbabwe. In fact your… investment…
moment is much, much higher than compared to other regions and other countries.
So we look forward to a country that has to go through rehabilitation and reconstruction
and your participation is welcome. As for us as political leaders,
we can only say that we’ll set the motion for a positive destiny for the country
and to me that is more important than the acrimony that characterize
the political disposition of the country. Thank you.
Thank you Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara.
Professor Schwab thank you very much for this opportunity to share with the
investors and those who are here at the forum. What we’re trying to do in Zimbabwe
is to lay the foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Zimbabwe.
We’re trying to build a globally competitive economy in our country. Every leadership…
from here. We take full responsibility for the failures and the successes
of the inclusive government. In particular, we take total unequivocal ownership
of the fairness of the inclusive government and this is a partnership we’re pushing
for all Africans. Ask not what others can do to shift the African economy but
what we can do as Africans to improve our circumstances.
Yes we know that there are exogenous factors that affect our economies but there are also
internal factors we control and we can do something about them.
Yes we know that the world is not a fair place but in Zimbabwe we are more
concerned about the internal things, the endogenous factors we control so those
failures we have experienced in the past 15 months we are determined to solve
as the leadership of the government level. Before I go into what we intend
to do to build this prosperous nation, let me raise what I call extended
circumstances or mitigating factors where you appraise this…
governments is too big to be dealing a context. Two years ago… I attempt… in Zimbabwe…
in Zimbabwe and the same time two years ago the Prime Minister… in the Dutch embassy…
around his neck. President Mugabe and his party were running the country on their own.
Fast forward to 2010, here we are, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai is now the
Prime Minister of the state of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe is now working with
his former protagonist in the same government and yours truly is
a Deputy Prime Minister. That is progress… by nature are very difficult. You have three
parties with three different directions working in the same arrangement.
If your global best practice tells you it’s a tough call. Look at the markets,
the markets are… of what the possibility of a ham parliament in England where
there could be a partnership government. So judge us by the challenges that…
in particular ours which is coming from those who were fighting each other,
were at each other’s throats just two years ago. Another factor, we are doing
what we’re doing in the country with skeptics throughout the world, with citizens
throughout the world, the IMF, the World Bank, GFIs are very skeptical
and very supportive of this arrangement. Those are the… circumstances you need
to get the factors in the country called Zimbabwe. The Americans and the Europeans
are skeptical and cynical about our arrangement. We still have sanctions
imposed upon us. So those are the… however we have met… two issues,
the outstanding matters which I talked about a lot. They are important.
We are going to address them. All these problems, all these challenges
are growing pains than taking problems in our arrangement. But more significantly
we have made progress… government, we now are coming out of a difficult
election which had results which were contested and challenged.
Key number one… is the creation of conditions for free and fair elections
in our country, one that can involve a national constitution, a new national
constitution, national healing, media reforms, electoral reforms,
political reforms, economic reforms. We are doing that to set up an anti-corruption
commission, we’ll set up an electoral commission, we’ll set up a human rights
commission, we’ll set up a media commission. The constitution-making process is moving.
The national ruling coalition is progressing. So we are making a tremendous progress
in so far as… conditions of free and fair elections is concerned.
In terms of the economy, we have set up the social recovery plan,
we are launching the middle term plan, we’re building our national vision,
we’re building up the…, so we are making progress towards a peaceful, prosperous,
and democratic nation and that being so is this one. Yes we’re having some
difficulties, yes we have some problems but we are determined to work together,
we are determined to make this inclusive government successful.
This is why we’re here meeting the investors.
For you the investors, please take a plunge and come to Zimbabwe for profit,
come to Zimbabwe and work with us in a win-win partnership.
If you delay, if you are skeptical, if you are dubious about Zimbabwe,
it’s your loss… Thank you very much.
Thank you Deputy Prime Minister. I think it was a very encouraging signal
which we got out, a message which we got out of these three statements
because we have to look at these statements not as individual
contributions but as collective commitment to the future of the country.
What we will do now is we have a panel discussion which will be moderated by
Julie Gichuru and… we have some of the issues, particularly economic issues,
so you will take care and you can use the panelists. Afterwards I will ask the
political leaders to react but before doing so I would like to – in the best Davos forum
tradition I would like to integrate also the audience so I will give the floor to
some of you to make also statements and to raise issues. I apologize already
now as we may be over time by 15 minutes or so. Any objection? No. Okay.
Thank you Klaus, gentlemen. So of course we’ve had insights from the President.
We’ve had the Prime Minister saying “Come into Zimbabwe and invest,”
and the Deputy Prime Minister saying “We have had progress. Yes there are
challenges but we’ve had progress.” We want to hear now from potential
investors, investors, and very important voice of the youth as well. But before I
go to the panel I just want to say let us not loose this moment, let us recognize
the importance of this continent of dialogue of this kind and we know in Africa
that when we do not listen to each other with an open mind, when we do
not hear each other and speak to each other, it can be disastrous. So thank you so much.
Let me start with Runa Alam, the CEO of Development Partners International
from the United Kingdom. If we can have a mike here for Runa please?
Runa would you stand so everybody can see you? Thank you.
Runa your organization has been investing in Africa for a while now, that’s
one of its focuses. Just looking at the situation in Zimbabwe, what's your
perspective on the investment climate and also what do you think should be
done to improve the business climate in the country?
Thank you very much Julie. Your Excellencies, Dr. Schwab,
Julie, thank you for the invitation for me to speak. Julie is right. We have
been investing as private equity investors in Africa for a long time,
for me personally going into the 12th year, among our six partners we have over
50 years experience investing in Africa so that’s the perspective
I come from in answering your question.
I will also say our fund has two particular focuses.
One is to invest in companies that benefit from the emerging middle
class so really looking at the growth in Africa and coming in and second looking
at newly liberalizing countries. From that perspective we have been closely
looking at Zimbabwe. We’re engaged in dialogue and investing with several
companies in Zimbabwe. So from that perspective I would ask actually
a different question, I’ll get to the question, and that question is why
invest in Zimbabwe? Leaving aside all politics, 13 million people versus
150 in Nigeria, 13 million people versus 80 million in Ethiopia, a growth rate
of 2.5% last year versus Africa growing at 5%, Angola and Ethiopia growing
at 8% to 10%, Tanzania and Nigeria growing at 5% to 7%. So why Zimbabwe?
And the reason we’re looking at it is the following: Zimbabwe has extraordinarily
educated people which leads to extraordinarily good management teams and good companies.
We as investors look at companies, that’s where we start and that’s where we end
so for that reason, one must look at Zimbabwe and that the other reason is because
of dollarization and other reasons, right now in Zimbabwe, some of the prices
of profitable companies are lower than replacing value for their assets.
So it’s a moment in time, as was mentioned by the Excellencies, it’s a moment of time.
Getting to the questions, it’s a moment in time that we as investors also look
at several other things. We look at yes management but also growth so the
companies we’re looking at are lean and mean companies coming out of this
environment and they are growing but their number is limited.
So the country as a whole has to grow and it has to be consistent because if you
look at other countries in Africa, for 5, 6, 10 years, they have had consistent
growth, with a few… but consistent growth. Second is that the whole macroeconomic
system has to stabilize because what we look at besides growth is visibility of revenues
so if a country has ups and downs and ups and downs companies in the country,
it’s hard to see when we look at projections what will be the earnings two years from now.
We don’t know, the company doesn’t know, so that is the second thing.
Another thing that we have to look at is essentially beyond growth and all of that
is what are the industries and other companies that are developing
has to be diversification of different companies in different types of companies
so one has to look at that, so macroeconomic growth, stability and consistency,
and really empowering capital to come in in an enabling type of environment.
Thank you so much for that Runa. Next we speak with someone who already
is in Zimbabwe, it’s a very big group actually in Central African countries,
we are with Shingi Munezya, Shingi please join us, CEO of African Sun Limited.
Now as a Zimbabwean business leader you’ve invested in multiple sectors
of the economy. What is your advice to foreign businesses interested in coming
into the country? And we hear the…
coming, there's a lot of potential, what else would you say?
Thank you Julie and I pay respects to our leaders from Zimbabwe, my home country,
born, bred, and probably will die there and this is a defining moment to see our
leaders at this conference in this fashion, in this format and I would say that it is
almost unbelievable and I want to thank and give credence to them and to Professor
Schwab for this moment and I think it is good for our country….
whether this stability or instability so sometimes I’ve had to live with
the negatives in a real form. Let me say that as an investor in Zimbabwe,
the first and the starting point has always been the confidence about the operating
environment and this has been brought about or this has been better and there's
been a complete shift in the past 15 months with the Government of National Unity
because this has been – the three leaders here have demonstrated
the willpower to move on.
Let me say that you only have to be somebody who has been in Zimbabwe before,
during the crisis, and now to appreciate where we are now. This is a complete turn.
It’s a u-turn from where we’ve been as masters of our own destiny.
But two years ago, our three leaders in front here to sit like this in any public forum
would have been… amongst themselves so to sit this way, it is a great moment.
And if an investor does not see that, I don’t know what you want to see.
I really don’t know. The only expectation from me as a businessman is waiting
for these three leaders to do what I term as a revolutionary moment.
A revolutionary moment is for them to deliver to us a process, a system
that will give us an uncontestable election and that is the revolutionary moment
that we await, uncontestable. And I shudder to say free and fair because
free and fair is almost like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder,
so it’s difficult to determine what was free and what was fair.
What I’ve learned as a businessman is that if the partners do not contest
even if the world thinks that this wasn’t free and fair, that’s fine. So we are
requesting them and we are obliging them and talking to them that they deliver
that to us as business and the rest of Zimbabwe an uncontestable election.
And this does not take away the revolution in President Mugabe, the change agent that
is in Prime Minister Tsvangirai, and history-maker that is in Deputy Prime Minister
Mutambara, that does not take anything from them and so we are looking at that.
Policy framework is important for us as businessmen in Zimbabwe and I'm
encouraging that this will – what we did… in terms of this situation.
There was a moment where policy would cheat almost every other day and
it was difficult to plant and do all sorts of things so when a manager in policy
that was because we were using our own clarity in a… environment, it was difficult
to plant, even make meaningful… But right now with the dollarization
that came just before the GNU was signed up or was commenced,
it has really made us able to plan and deal with our issues…
And this has been a favorable – and also seen a favorable exchange rate regime.
We are able to buy, sell, bring in services and so on and in the parameter that is clear
and there is no hindrance, I must say, to do any of that.
This has been a good development. The next policy I think that the stabilization
of policy has been the biggest winner. We have stable policy so when the monetary
policy regime changed what it is now the next policy introduction was the
indigenization policy. Now let me talk a little bit more of that. This morning when
I woke up and I looked in the mirror, I was black and I still remember that,
I was Zimbabwean so maybe that is the definition of indigenization. I think the issue
here is the empowerment. I don’t think any one in Zimbabwe negates or debates
against an empowerment of a post-colonial era. However, I think what is now being dealt
with is the implementation which sends wrong messages around the investor
community including those of us who are in Zimbabwe. Sixty percent of my
partners in business are foreign so we’ve got to make sure that we send
the right messaging. The engagement with the relevant authorities in government
is there and it has begun and has been progressing. I must say that it
has been progressive from our part. So we see a process that would bring
about a desired effect. We continue
Shingi if you are confident that implementation can be done in a way
that will maintain the competence?
I'm confident. If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t stand up here.
And the real reason is that because this has been dealt with with a…
or unity in themselves, they suffer an issue of some sort because…
so we are cognizant of that but I think that that is going to be a great one.
And what we are saying is that any parliament should produce economic growth,
it should produce employment opportunities, it should produce foreign direct investment,
it should also deal with poverty alleviation. So that’s where we are on that score so every
business and I would say what we need is capital injection. Zimbabwe needs
re-capitalizing… Our government is broke and it’s not a secret to say, because
if we will not, we probably would have done it… but we need our partners,
we need to be part of the global village and that’s why we ask you that.
Thank you so much. I move now to Kuseni Dlamini, CEO of Old Mutual South Africa.
Now Old Mutual has had a longstanding relationship and engagement in Zimbabwe,
Kuseni. You have a valuable historic perspective on the political and economic
situations as well. The question is what do you see as the opportunities in Zimbabwe
and also what do you see as the risks?
The first area of opportunity to me is just done just now, seeing the threesome
in front of us here trying to rally all of us around the changes that are
happening in Zimbabwe. I think what Zimbabwe needs are confident…
of the kind that we’ve just had here. If the leaders of Zimbabwe can take
the spirit that has started here, I'm sure it has not started here
but it has been shared with us here out of the…, out to…, take it to London,
take to across the world,… investors out there that Zimbabwe is ready for business,
that Zimbabwe matters, Zimbabwe wants to be part of the world, I think that’s going
to take us far and it is going to assist us to deal with the consents that have
been facing the country. In terms of the challenges going forward I think
one of the main challenges which I'm sure is being dealt with is doing the need
to put an infrastructure and a policy of architecture that encourages
global competitiveness. I heard the Deputy Prime Minister alluding to that effect.
I think the first thing that we need, we need to ensure that we’ve got stable
and competitive fiscal and monetary policies in this country, without that
investors will continue to ask some questions. The third area of opportunity and challenge
is really to address the infrastructure bedrock in Zimbabwe, not really Zimbabwe
to not go to a period that has resulted in its infrastructure being demolished as it was
the case in some countries such as Mozambique and Angola.
There is a basic robustness of the physical infrastructure in Zimbabwe.
I think that provides an excellent platform to build the country, rebuild the economy,
and then set a basis for foreign current investments to come into the country.
The fourth area of opportunity is your energy security.
I used to work in the mining industry before going into financial services
and we had investments in Zimbabwe for mining facility, the issue of energy
was constantly an area of challenge in some of the investment decisions that we had to make.
I think if we can be able to unlock the energy deficit that is there we can really propel
Zimbabwe into growth and development in ways that are sustainable.
There is even a great opportunity for Zimbabwe to address its needs in terms
of energy in ways that are progressive by tapping into the opportunity
that climate change provides.
It’s a rare opportunity to look at clean energy opportunities, unlock and unleash
a green revolution in Zimbabwe, create massive jobs on the basis of more
compressive, more enlightened responses to energy needs, not repeating the mistakes
that saw some of our first world countries committed when they were
to do with those developmental issues. And I also think that the issue of education
and skills, although it was a point that was made early on by my colleague,
that’s Zimbabwe with good education… but some of the things that you can see
over the last few years create an opportunity to really rethink about further boosting
the efficacy of the education system in Zimbabwe. The schools are there,
the investors are there but there's more that needs to be done to make sure
that Zimbabwe continues to produce not just for Zimbabwe but for Southern Africa.
On the policy issue I’d like to appeal to our honorable President Robert Mugabe,
honorable Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, as well as honorable Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara to really look and make sure that whatever policy that we come with,
we build… it against best practice in the world in line with their collective commitment
to make sure that Zimbabwe is conducive to investors. If we really would like
to position Zimbabwe as a globally competitive nation, yes indeed I think
we can and must and will, we really need to look at… in our policies with the best
policies in the world. You may want to look at examples where a country is leading
on health, if Cuba is the leading country on health, you look at their health policy.
If Singapore is a leading country on energy policy, on economic policy, look
at the Singaporean policies,… picking one example from one country, but really
looking at what works and… and looking at what’s good for Zimbabwe,
what are the domestic impurities that needs to be taken into consideration
in order to build a very dynamic and formidable economy and I have no doubt
that we will be able to turn around the corner and I also believe that it’s
a huge opportunity for all our leaders in Southern Africa to also start having
a regional perspective to the continent’s growth and to the continent’s policy
development process. I'm not talking about 13 million people in Zimbabwe,
49 million people in South Africa, these are very small markets but when
you start talking about… over 200 million people, the much bigger market,
…now looking away from policies with the co-chair, we were talking yesterday,
we talked about the need to move away from… policies to… top policies.
So we really need to do something original and in terms of the policy on architecture,
you get what is best not just for Zimbabwe or South Africa, what is best for…
because our economies are inexplicably intertwined and the way things happen
at the social level, economic level, and in the consular and political level
doesn’t respect the borders there today so it’s really a priority that we have the…
informed, honest, and open conversation around what is good for…,
what is good for the whole of Africa so that we can really… people that we
now have on the African continent, check on the best countries that are
committed with us, the best continents that are convicting with us around the world.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Before you go, risks.
There are various degrees of risk in all the countries operating… we continuously
do risk assessment in every country, we have been in Zimbabwe for over 100 years
and I can conquer with the views that have been expressed here that Zimbabwe
has got lots of opportunities and we are looking at Zimbabwe from an opportunity
perspective and we believe that there are more opportunities there than threats.
Now we’re going to get a very important perspective of Bongani Ncube,
I hope I pronounced that correctly please. Bongani is a Global Changemaker
and we want to know what your thoughts are. You're a young Zimbabwean,
what do you think about the current state of the country and what
is your vision for Zimbabwe?
Okay. Distinguished guests. I'm the youngest of the youngest,
I'm 21 and I'm a Global Changemaker but standing here, I'm a Zimbabwean
and they’ve been saying “We, we, we.” I'm one of those we’s. So I’ve been there,
we’ve been there, I bought a toothbrush for $10 million. We have been in that situation.
We have been there. We’ve been in the Dark but it is seeing this, this I think
is the biggest emblem of hope that we have. And I was sitting there and I saw after
his Excellency finished speaking he wanted to pass the mike to Mr. Tsvangirai
and that is something, 10 years ago, 5 years ago I couldn’t even imagine that,
and sitting in Algeria with other students, when we saw the Unity Agreement and there
were four, …we were all amazed and thinking “Wow.” But for me the most important
thing is we are now beyond past equalities, we now have a brand, we now have
an emblem, something to believe in and that something is Zimbabwe which
is more important and these men here are saying that this is more important
than anything that’s been done before. Having said that though, it’s not perfect
and I'm here to challenge them and challenge Zimbabweans to improve – to continue
to improve, compromise, we have… of compromise and we are using it and
I hope one day we’ll reach that. And the second question, the future
of Zimbabwe, we were having a meeting in the morning with Graca Machel
and she said we as Africans are the solutions to our problems.
So I'm an African, I'm a Zimbabwean, and I believe I'm a solution, like Runa said,
we are excellent students… excellent students and I'm proud to be that, so I'm a solution.
And I remember talking to an economist from London on Wednesday and I asked him
“Sir, what do you believe about Zimbabwe?” And he said “Zimbabwe is doomed to succeed.”
We are doomed. We had it all. We’ve been there. We’ve done that.
We’ve had it all but I believe and I… by many people and I'm inspired
and I hope it continues. This is the beginning I hope and even after everything has come
and gone, we still have that vision, that brand, that unity, and that belief
in Zimbabwe which is more important than anything else. And that is what I think,
I believe. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Now… you’ve heard the view of the youth and the investors,
Professor I'm going to hand back to you in just a moment but first we must
commend leaders when they get it right, please, let’s give them a hand.
Thank you so much and… a handshake. You don’t understand the difference
that it makes on the ground. As a Kenyan, we sat there and looked at every side and
what you're doing right now is amazing so we thank you for that.
Thank you Julie. Before asking the honorable guests to respond
to the issues, let me just take two or three statements from the audience…
Is there someone here? Yes please. Can you bring a microphone?
My name is… I think the tone of the session today has been very positive.
It has shown me the brighter future and I think this is really…
of some of us who are amongst the youngest leaders in Africa. The question that
I had was actually a… because I think it’s very tempting… as leaders to look
in the rearview mirror and try to explain… of the past. The question I have is what
are you doing today as leaders to… people like Bongani to make sure
that your legacy in Zimbabwe is secure? So I would like to ask this question
because I believe that it is
…absolutely honorable. I think it’s a sign that we definitely can meet. However,
reflecting on everything that has been said here today, it’s almost as if you're
talking about a Zimbabwe that I’ve never been able to grasp… that’s not a reality today.
And from my point of view as an investor into Zimbabwe, I'm asking myself
“What are you doing to actually make sure –“ exactly the same question that you bring the…,
what are you doing to make sure that you're attracting capital? As you're aware, capital
is a… and it doesn’t go… it perceives danger that is more than what is the
commensurate region and at this point in time, every time we look at Zimbabwe,
we are afraid of the policies that they are putting in place, we are afraid that
something is going to change, it’s not predictable enough, it’s not stable enough,
what are you going to do to make sure that the FTIs that you're talking about
that you need in Zimbabwe, that the missed opportunity that you're talking about
at the time for Zimbabwe is now, what are you going to do to make sure that
Zimbabwe does not miss its opportunity now and in the future?
That’s an important question and I'm sure the speakers will respond to it.
Let me take maybe two other issues. There are so many. Please.
Thank you. I'm a… myself. Obviously I'm the youngest here.
But I must say that I think Zimbabwe copied the issue of the coalition
government from Kenya. However… because I think… I think… of unity.
I think it has something to do with hope…. because the question of good leadership
is very, very important for this continent and that is what should be copied
by everybody in this continent. Thank you very much.
My name is Richard Dowden. I'm the director of the Royal African
Society in London. And I'm deeply grateful to President Mugabe.
In 1976 I was trying to become a journalist and he agreed to
he was on a visit to London and he agreed to be interviewed and it was my first
piece of journalism. Thank you Mr. President. I think I’ve interviewed you a few times.
I noticed that none of the investors raised the question of sanctions and that was
raised by the President. I would just like to remind myself exactly what the US
and European Union sanctions are listed those listed sanctions. Thank you.
Thank you. Please.
Hi my name is Sonia… I'm representing ADC. We are a German-based investor and we have
invested in Zimbabwe. We’ve invested in December last year and I have to say
this is of course for us an important signal to see the three of you and I thank
you for that. However we do have concerns. We have invested and the discussion
around indigenization is obviously a discussion that’s very important
for us and getting some more views from all three of you on the topic of indigenization
and how that works together with encouraging capital inflows from other international
investors into the country will be something that I would like to hear about. Thank you.
Thank you. I think we have now enough agenda issues and I may turn the sequence
around and we will end with his Excellency, the President and we
start with you Dr. Mutambara.
Thank you very much. In most of the issues addressed by the panel and the audience,
…to the new agenda now, what would… the country is stabilization economics.
We’re now migrating from stabilization economics to growth economics where
we’re saying job creation, disposable incomes, capacity utilization, new investment,
and so that we can… and such investors and growing the economy in Zimbabwe.
That will require that sanctions be moved. You know, let’s get to this question here,
even if the sanctions… on the President, this Minister, the army commander,
the army and the reserve bank, guess what…, guess what investors are circumspect,
they won't come to a country where the president is on a travel ban, they won't
come to a country where the Minister of Defense is on a travel ban.
So even if the objective is… the impact is good to our country, we can attract
lines of credit, we can attract investors, sanctions must go today in total,
whatever the type of the sanctions. While of course we the Zimbabweans
in this platform are now working together, we don’t need them, why should you hope
that America patronize us and say that it’s a monetary sanction when the
Zimbabweans have spoken, When… has spoken when South Africa
has spoken, when the AU has spoken. In terms of opportunities we as a government
are having a… we are not the doers, we are enablers, we are facilitators,
so we are now moving away from… in our country, owning the water utility,
owning transportation, we are now geared towards partnerships.
So the opportunities with… infrastructure, the opportunities in mining,
the opportunities in manufacturing and processing, and we are creating
an enabling environment around that. In terms of empowerment, it is not sustainable
in a country to have majority of the people expect… in the economy.
It is not sustainable in the long run neither is it desired. The majority of the
Zimbabweans must be pairs in the economy. And by the way, this is not new,
South Africa has done it, in India, you can't have a company… you can't
get more than 29% in India but all the… are there in India so if we put 49%,
we’re not different from global-based countries. What we need to do however
is to package it well, to sell it well, to explain it but it’s not in… because by
creating long term stability by involving the majority in our economy.
Let’s issue all the young people how do we allow them to be active?
I think it’s a good person we must address, how to make… young people?
How do we ensure the legacies projected by new soldiers, new players,
so that the independence of South Africa or Zimbabwe or Ghana goes on through
new people. So we need to create systems and… and institutions that
are promotive of talent coming in, that are promotive of new… coming
in yet I think young people must also check this… to be invited, take a plunge,
like I teach in… Don’t wait for the invitation from old guards,
from the young, and the young. You must also make a sacrifice and take
a plunge and become a player. Most of our… in Africa are in the private
sector, they're in…, and yet private office determines the future of the country,
public policy is determined by politicians. We must make sure we have a balance
between the participation of our best minds in business, our best minds
in academia, we must also come to the game of political…
Mr. President.
On the empowerment of the young people, the question I ask is
“Young man or young lady, what are you really?” that’s the question.
Just as we must make you something, we must educate you and so our educational
system must be… the system that is available to every child in the country and taking up
all the young people at least to the secondary level where you can make
now choices as to which way to go, and what colleges, and… to sponsor.
The private sector must come in also. You see I’ve sponsored the development
of skills. So after that I want to ask you the question “What are you young man?
What are you young lady?” You already have skills, all you need now is the
opportunity and these are the opportunities now we have made available through
the indigenization of the parliament. Which vector do you want to go to?
What skills? …or you a professional? Are you a lawyer? Etcetera, etcetera.
And the… becomes yours.
Thank you. Prime Minister.
There are a lot of questions that I wish to explain. The first one is of course
the political challenge that Shingi has asked us… elections. So at some stage
there will be elections and let’s hope that those elections will be conducted
in a manner which is not disputed. So there will be an election at some stage.
We deliberately avoided to set a date for an election because we didn’t want people
to go into an election war, instead to go into a healing phase,
create conditions, level the playing fields and then have elections.
At the end of the day the people of Zimbabwe will have to choose and I hope
that that will change... So it doesn’t give a need to be revolutional,
it’s something that is expected. On the question of policy consistency
and certainness, I do, that’s what we are trying to do, clear the credibility,
build the confidence in our policies, build the national consensus because
we area coalition, policies I know just are now the top… exercise, there has to be
debate, coverage from the Council of Ministers, we can take orders so that we
arrive at the policy which is good and all… I’ll go to the next one which is indigenization.
I know there has been a lot of… raised around it but there are three critical
issues I just want to explain. Citizenship in parliament in terms of the indigenization
policy of Zimbabwe… does not mean marginalization and I know that a lot
of perception is with the creative but indigenization equal nationalization,
that’s not the issue, that’s why one of the policy requirement is how do we ensure
that this broad, broad participation of the citizens, what four colleges
are we going to put in place to make sure that… exercise that is broadened…
we have discussed. Another critical issue in indigenization is the framework
for sector by sector pressure. You can't have one size fits all.
…bank so you'll have to discuss on each particular sector in order to set those
minimum thresholds. And remember the 51% …we are talking about is the output
but what we are doing is that we have to start from somewhere if we are to be part…
Let me just try to attempt… of course we can't work to revitalize this economy
without the predictable infrastructure, our roads, our railways, our airways
are very… if we are to progress and make sure that this economy progresses.
Let me just add a comment… We talked about the… You know in June
last year I went to the United States, I went to Europe. The question that
I was constantly asked apart from everything else “What is your relationship
with President Mugabe?” I said “What is so unique about it?
We have a working relationship, we have signed an agreement,
we are working together in government, what more?” “Are you really sure?”
and I went to the extent of…, I went to the extent to explain the fact that look,
you have very displaced perceptions and sometimes it has become an obsession
about what you believe the real problem in Zimbabwe is.”
Yes you may have your old positions but to me, as we push this country forward,
President Mugabe and myself may be part of the problem but we’re also part of the
solutions if we have to see this country through this crisis.
So some of this feels like capital being afraid “Oh I can't go into Zimbabwe
because for some reason this has happened and this has happened.” I want to assure
you that capital must be and always be bought, …there's no country involved in this
but it’s your opportunity to take that risk assessment and I'm going to show you
that as I said, there's no… Every country in its experience… but each situation
is what its own characteristics and I'm sure that it we analyze what
is happening in Kenya, you may find some of the negative characteristics…
We are not amazed at the same level of risk as Kenya. Why? It’s different
and I think you need to examine each particular situation from its own perspective.
I think… and I'm sure that if you are in business. Now let me deal with
the issue of sanctions. It doesn’t make sense that people of the same
government are not able to travel because of the travel ban. It doesn’t make sense.
I travel,… travel, the other one travel, the other one is still travelling,
that in itself is not an endorsement of the progress that we have
made in the country. So all we are saying is that if we are people of the
same government, look at us from the same perspective. Why do you select?
We have at least worked together and we must get guidance from what
we are saying, that what you believe is going to say. I know that a lot of people…
There will be concerns about HIV, there will be concerns about the level of crime,
there will be concerns about – every country is with its own legacy, what we need
to say is that – and what we are saying here is that Zimbabwe, it has its problems,
yes, we are tackling them, they are not insurmountable, and people should
look positively to say “This economy which has shrunk by 50% is on the…
Last year we grew by 30% but… so you must understand that we are not after the…
we are stuck at leading, we are creating conditions for you to make business
and I'm sure that what she here is saying confirms it and we want to assure
that the leadership of the country that will do everything to ensure that we
respond to your needs, we engage you in business so that we can provide
the basis for a better takeoff. Thank you.
Thank you. Yes they appear to be… but actually they're much more than
just personally talented. I'm talking of the European vision of the sanctions.
…the companies are not allowed to deal with us so America has been much more
honest than Europe. Europe says that the sanctions are personally…
I’ll give you examples. …in terms of its infrastructure, machinery,
etc, and these by date of history is all wasted. We cannot get spare
parts but we can't get even new machinery from Europe because
of sanctions. Mrs. Thatcher persuaded me, we’re good friends, we conservatives,
not that I support her,… your Air Force, why don’t you try the Hawk.
It’s a trainer, it’s a fighter. And we spoke about it with my experts…
etc and we got a squadron. It was a dozen plus one, thirteen.
Now we can't get spare parts for them from Britain because of sanctions
and they're all grounded. So we have to look east, replace them with… from China
and this is the story across the board, we can't get spare parts, we can't get
new machinery from the west and that sounds ridiculous. Later on, credit
lines and operations between banks… yes this will not happen, it’s open,
it’s honest, Europe says “No we haven’t done” so it’s only the sanctions that are fake
persons but in reality they are… the practice of it is old sanctions. Thank you.
Thank you. At the end of the session I would like to take up one issue which
was mentioned, the future of Zimbabwe. And I would like to ask, since we are
running out of time, each of the panelists to describe in two or three sentences
how he imagines Zimbabwe to be 10 years from now. If you had to describe Zimbabwe
10 years from now, how would you describe it? How would you like to see it?
But in order to start, I would like to go back to Bongani and ask him first to describe
how he sees the future but don’t take more than two minutes please.
The British Council of Global Changemakers. I see a future based on the dream that I'm
building where we are now involved as youth a dynamism clinched by this
threesome I see a future full of vision and hope.
Thank you. Who would start? Prime Minister.
I think it’s clear that the part and the destiny we have set for the country
provides for a democratic, prosperous and a… relations, a productive level of…
society, that’s what I would like to see.
I did my homework and I looked at your speech, Mr. President, when you came
to Davos and at that time, you said “We want to make South Africa and
Zimbabwe a giant.” You said that sometime, a giant. What is your wish?
Well, still a giant. In Southern Africa, apart from South Africa, Zimbabwe
has the best infrastructure, industrial, and even educational, etc, etc.
We are above everybody else and having that advantage of that infrastructure,
an enlightened population, skilled young men and women,
sure we are destined for that place in society of being a giant.
But Mr. President how would you see Zimbabwe 10 years from now?
Particularly how would you see it politically?
How would I see --?
How would you see Zimbabwe 10 years from now politically?
Politically. Well I see it continuing to develop and I see it remaining democratic
and don’t tell us that there has not been any democracy in Zimbabwe because
that’s what we fought for, that’s what we went to prison for, there was no democracy,
we brought about the… system and we hope that continues but it is up to the
young people then who will be part to sustain the education we are giving
them both academic and political through our own example should equip them to sustain
the system and I see a developed Zimbabwe in 10 years’ time definitely.
Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara, you are youngest and 10 years from now
you are only 50, if I'm not mistaken, 10 years from now, 53. How do you see Zimbabwe?
I have both a vision and a strategy for Zimbabwe.
My vision for Zimbabwe in 10 years’ time is a peaceful, prosperous,
and globally competitive economy which will be top 50 on the GCI, the global
competitive index. And the strategy to get involves an ICT-driven strategy,
involves entrepreneurship, involves moving from a… driven economy to an
investment-driven economy. It involves moving from commodity-based economics to…
It involves making sure that a technocratic capacity driving our countries.
So this is the strategy I think can take us to a peaceful, prosperous,
and democratic Zimbabwe.
Ladies and gentlemen, this was certainly a most interesting session.
But it was more than just a session, I think it was a commitment,
some people told me historical, I don’t take it lightly, I think likely
I think we will see in 5, 10 years whether it really was historical
but the session, in any case, was a commitment we rely and we feel
very comforted by your statements and we want to thank you very much for
coming here, being with us, being all the three of you with us.
Thank you very much and we wish you in your undertakings all the success
which you need in order to make Zimbabwe a prosperous and peaceful country. Thank you.
