ZIMBABWEAN economic blueprints will not produce the desired results if the country does not resolve issues that spur competitiveness such as the cost of money, reliable energy supply and efficient transport, an economist has said.
PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe economist Prosper Chitambara said sanctions imposed by the West had been used conveniently to mask the country’s uncompetitiveness.
“Even if there were no sanctions, we are still not a competitive country. Competitiveness is measured in the cost of money, energy and transportation of goods,” Chitambara told journalists attending a workshop on development and economic reporting yesterday.
“Zimbabwe has currently the highest loan interest rates in the world on average of 20% per annum, erratic supplies of electricity (energy) and an undeveloped transport network.”
Chitambara further stated that the new economic policy on creating special economic zones (SEZ) to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) would be hampered by among other things Zimbabwe’s geographic location.
“From available evidence, SEZs do not work when you are not a coastal country. In Africa the top five countries receiving FDIs are all coastal nations, namely Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique,” he said.
Chitambara said investors needed to set up their industries in places that could be closely linked to the sea so that they could export. He cited the example of China’s four SEZs that are all on the coast.
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The economist added that Zimbabwe’s economic revival would also depend on structural and human resource changes especially in State institutions and the civil service.
“A weak civil service, lack of strong leadership in terms of capacity and integrity and lack of a strong and credible institution to eliminate corruption urgently need to be addressed to spur economic growth,” he said.
Zimbabwe used to be the second biggest and most diversified economy in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa when it attained independence in 1980.
The economic growth was largely built around the Ian Smith regime’s import substitution industrialisation policy.
The policy spurred the growth of industrial areas across the major cities as the regime sought to overcome the biting effects of economic sanctions.
