Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. After ten years of inflation, burgeoning unemployment, and political turmoil, there is a possibility that the country is turning the corner. “Zimbabwe could see economic growth of 8.1 percent in the second part of 2010,” recently stated the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti. The International Monetary Fund is a little less optimistic, projecting Real GDP growth rates of 2.2 percent for 2010 and zero or limited growth in 2011.
Few doubt that things are better than when shelves were empty and Zimbabweans faced 80 billion percent month over month inflation in November 2007. Since then the situation has stabilized and there is a real chance that the future promises economic growth and the opportunity to once again become a middle income country in Africa.
CIPE’s chairman, Mr. Greg Lebedev, spoke to an audience of government officials, business persons, and students on September 29 in Harare, Zimbabwe, about what it would take to grow the economy in Zimbabwe.
“You have remarkable natural resources, a depth of human capital, an indomitable spirit and an opportunity,” Lebedev remarked at the “Just Business” conference organized by the American Business Association of Zimbabwe. “That opportunity is to begin to take concrete steps to make a market economy work right here. If you make sustainable economic growth a priority you will not only change the lives of ordinary citizens, you will change the way the world looks at Zimbabwe for a long, long time.”
The conference had the goal of finding solutions that will improve Zimbabwe’s economy through growth. Other notable speakers included the Honorable Morgan Tsvangirai, Minister of State Sylvester Nguni; Mr. Scott Eisner, Executive Director, Africa Business Initiative; Professor Mervyn King, Chairman of the King Commission on Corporate Governance; and Mr. Charles Ray, the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Zimbabwe.
CIPE’s support for the conference stemmed from its belief that both civil society and government must work together to address the problems of economic development. Civil society organizations that represent the business community can be a major voice for growth-oriented policy, strengthening relationships based on common interest in a better future for Zimbabwe. Future economic growth in Zimbabwe will depend on those relationships.
Published Date: September 30, 2010