ZIMBABWE has made some tremendous efforts in improving transport and communications networks over the past decade.
However, these projects have not been co-ordinated, thereby losing their value and in some instances leaving the country as a vassal state.
The Harare regime has refurbished airports and improved some major roads.
It has created an image of a developed country, but this image crumbles when exposed to a test.
Zimbabwe was among the earliest companies to licence United States based satellite internet provider — Starlink.
The change, while met with excitement, is still yet to deliver for the average citizen.
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Internet users in Zimbabwe are on average still paying more than their peers in the region.
In the process, two State-controlled mobile network operators are technically insolvent.
They cannot break the near monopoly position of Econet and they are no longer attractive to investors.
This is a classic example of Zimbabwe opening itself up to competition too early.
It kills the local companies, leaving the country at the mercy of multi-nationals whose allegiance to a market cannot be guaranteed.
This poor policy is not limited to communications, but extends to air travel.
Zimbabwe, in its efforts to be seen as politically correct, rushes to open its skies.
There are now more foreign airlines flying into the country.
South Africa enjoys the lion’s share of the market.
Earlier this week, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Following the successful review of bilateral air services relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa, which now provides for unlimited frequency and capacity for airlines of the two states, @fastjet has today announced an additional frequency between HRE/JNB #OpenSkiesPolicy.”
On the face of it, the open skies policy may seem like making life easier for the travelling community.
However, a closer analysis shows that this policy is the death knell of the national airline — Air Zimbabwe.
Air Zimbabwe cannot compete with the South African companies.
Currently, from South Africa, they have South African Airlines (SAA), Airlink, fastjet and Comair.
The SAA has three flights into Harare and three out of Harare daily.
It also flies into Victoria Falls directly twice a day.
All these flights have reinforced the idea of Zimbabwe as a province of South Africa.
Many people flying into Zimbabwe come through South Africa.
It is interesting to imagine what lay behind the open skies policy.
Did the honchos at CAAZ and the Ministry of Transport think Air Zimbabwe will survive the competition with only two functional aeroplanes?
It is funny that Zimbabwe while increasingly opening itself, many countries across the globe are employing protectionist policies.
Zimbabwe is busy going where others are coming from.
On another note, there seems to be no correlation between the expanding flying sector and the bad roads in and out of cities.
One traveller, Cliff Chiduku, wrote his frustrations on Facebook.
“With limited time on my side, I opted for a flight. Thanks to the introduction of Air Zimbabwe flights since the Sanganai / Kumbanayi / Hlanganani Travel Expo, life has been made easier for frequent travellers like me.
“We left Mutare at exactly 7:30am and, just 33 minutes later, we touched down in Harare. The flight was smooth, efficient, and refreshingly convenient,” Chiduku wrote.
He poured his frustration on the Harare traffic jams.
“What Air Zimbabwe achieved in 33 minutes, Harare traffic jam took 45 minutes. Imagine – covering a 220km journey in half an hour, only to spend more time crawling less than 30km from the airport to Highlands,” complained Chiduku.
What he highlights in his short post is the misalignment between developments in air travel and the roads in our cities.
The two do not complement each other.
Harare City, some years ago, gave away hundreds of hectares of prime land to Augur Investments in exchange for construction of an express motorway to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
The road is still incomplete more than a decade after commissioning.
Zimbabwe’s ministries and departments love to work in silos.
They hardly collaborate and in the end are left with unfinished projects or policies that look nice, but do not benefit the country.
The good sounding policies such as open for business without considering what harm they do to local companies and sovereignty should be reconsidered.
In many countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, among others, there are companies that are considered too big to fail.
These are generally companies that are local and have been significant players in the economy.
It was evident during the 2008/9 global recession when central banks supported companies in their own countries.
On the contrary, Zimbabwe seems ready to embrace foreign companies that take away their businesses at the slightest crisis in the country.
Zimbabwe should have learnt its lessons from the backlash that accompanied the fast-track land reform programme.
Many multinational companies disinvested or moved their factories and head offices to other countries in the region.
The question of opening up our skies has a deep impact on the economy.
These foreign airlines at some point need to repatriate their profits to their shareholders, that would be forex going out.
I wonder whose good idea it was to subject a weak Air Zimbabwe to competition from strong airlines like SAA?
The half-baked or ill-thought policies are not helping the country, but leaving it exposed as a vassal to bigger economies like South Africa and China.
It may be time that these policies are revisited to ensure they best serve Zimbabwe better.
- Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist based in Harare. He writes here in his personal capacity.