ZIMBABWE remains a low-income economy, misclassified for political reasons and unlikely to attain upper-middle-income status by 2030, former Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Gorden Moyo, has said.
Moyo made the remarks last week during the Local Governance Conference held under the theme Reimagining NDS2 Legal Frameworks for Devolution at the Holiday Inn Bulawayo.
Responding to a resident who asked whether the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) will help Zimbabwe to achieve Vision 2030, Moyo said the policy framework had merit, but its targets were unrealistic given the country’s economic situation.
“It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Zimbabwe to become an upper-middle-income society or economy by 2030,” he said.
“But the NDS2 is a good document and having a vision is good; there is nothing wrong with that. But achievement is a different story.”
Moyo argued that Zimbabwe remained a low-income economy despite being classified as lower-middle-income.
“By all indicators and economic parameters, Zimbabwe is a low-income economy. The country is falsely classified as a lower-middle-income economy,” he said.
He claimed the classification, made in the early 2000s, was politically motivated and cost Zimbabwe access to concessional funding.
According to Moyo, NDS2 requires nearly US$44 billion in funding, yet domestic resource mobilisation remains weak while external financing prospects are limited.
“Right now, we need about US$44 billion to finance this NDS2. But thinking you will get funding from external sources is difficult,” he said.
Moyo also warned that political rhetoric was undermining the credibility of economic planning.
“The confusion between the economic side of NDS2 and political rhetoric constitutes some of the challenges,” he said.
Moyo urged Zimbabwe to pursue both democracy and economic development, citing neighbouring Botswana and Mauritius as examples.
“Why not learn from those who are doing both? Why should we fail to do both? Botswana, next door, is actually an upper-middle-income economy in Africa. It has both democracy and development. So does Mauritius,” he said.
Moyo added that the success of NDS2 depended on broad public consultation and citizen ownership.
“The issue of the social contract is very important. It is about consulting the people — residents’ associations, farmers, professionals, civil society and others — instead of just coming up with blueprints in offices,” he said.