THE recent report by the United Kingdom ‘research’ company, NKC African Economics which claims that a wave of mass demonstrations and social unrest were likely to rock Zimbabwe ‘soon’ is nothing, but a fresh attempt by Britain to downplay the momentum and impact of Government efforts to turn around the economy taken in the past few weeks.
There has been a hive of activity in recent weeks in giving the country’s economy a fresh impetus, with the Government, well marshalled by Chinese intervention speeding up processes to give life to the economy.
On the other hand, there have been equally unprecedented, but seemingly subtle efforts by Britain and other Western powers, to stop the turning around of the economy, hence the NKC’s alarmist mass uprising report.
The Chinese intervention which is becoming a reality has without doubt left Britain and her allies utterly bemused, but the truth is they created this situation and they have no one, but themselves to blame.
Most times it’s better to travel in hope in order to confront reality.
Zimbabwe is currently going through a difficult phase, but enclosing that segment is a silver lining approaching as soon as December 2015.
Yet between now and December, there will be colossal efforts to thwart that impending silver lining.
The unavoidable reality is that, President Robert Mugabe’s Government is used to being hammered for alleged ‘lack of activity in transforming the economy’.
But there has been little to buttress these aspersions, especially when the Chinese mega deals are slowly unfolding into visible packages.
Presented as a supposedly ‘dire prognosis’ of Zimbabwe’s immediate future, the NKC, a unit of Oxford Economics betrayed its intention of propping up the mass protests when it deliberately sought to present itself as the ultimate stamp of this country’s situation while ignoring processes leading to the full implementation of the said economic deals.
“It is barely conceivable that the ZANU PF Government anticipated the consequences of the Supreme Court ruling for close to a month,” part of the report reads.
“Within days of the ruling, dismissed workers were already flooding the streets, yet it took another two weeks and more for any official government reaction — even though the actions had started stirring yet more anger against the regime of President Robert Mugabe,”
While the NKC was busy spewing up its mass demonstrations agenda, outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Lin Lin, was delivering news to the effect that discussions between Zimbabwe and China over the funding of the refurbishment of Hwange Seven and Eight power stations are expected to be completed by December.
The Hwange Power Station refurbishment project is being funded to the tune of US$1,2 billion.
The refurbishment of Hwange Power Station Unit Seven and Eight is part of some projects enshrined in the upgraded Zimbabwe-China Memorandum of Understanding signed when Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited the Asian country last month.
Projects lined up with China, many of which funding is ready include, construction of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Harare and Bulawayo, dualisation of all the country’s major highways, rehabilitation of national railway links and completion of water projects.
Other projects include a US$533 million expansion at Kariba Hydropower station, solar in Matabeleland and gas or diesel generators in the eastern border of Mutare.
Some of these projects will be commissioned as early as December.
“I am happy a number of projects will be implemented by the end of the year,” said Ambassador Lin.
“One on the projects where discussions are expected to be complete is the Hwange Seven and Eight power station.”
Refurbishment of Hwange Power Station is expected to boost the energy sector that has been reeling under a power deficit.
The development will also come as good news to Hwange Colliery Company as demand for coal will increase boosting operations.
Out of all these projects, it is the dualisation of the Harare-Beitbridge Road that has whetted the Chinese appetite amid confirmation from Government sources of huge interest by the Asian economic powerhouse’s companies to carry out the project.
The Patriot is reliably informed that it is not only the Chinese who have expressed interest in investing in the country.
In the next two weeks, delegations from the Middle East are expected to visit Harare to seal mega deals spanning all spheres of the country’s economy.
Information at hand shows that there is huge interest in the energy, housing and infrastructural rehabilitation and development by the Middle Easterners.
The storm is over and the much awaited take off is now upon us, but it is in times like these where alarmists lose the way, attacking the good that we all have been waiting for, attacking the necessary comparisons with other economies and trying to tarnish the good work being done by others.
Asi nechekure denga rinoona (But even that which is seemingly far away from the eye can see or that which pretends to be with us, but harbouring evil intentions, God watches and He has the answers).
These shall be exposed when the time comes.
The NKC report just like many others before will suffer that fate of gathering dust and being swallowed by the dustbins of history.
Do I hear the name Morgan Tsvangirai?