THE double endorsement by UK of ZANU PF “as a party that will likely live on” and that there are signs that reformist policies are beginning to emerge, especially in the Zimbabwe economy is a strategy by Britain not to lag behind Harare’s economic take-off that is about to happen.
Last week, Stephen Chan, Britain’s chief strategist on Zimbabwe and London’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Philip Hammond showered Harare and ZANU PF with rare praise on the direction the country is taking.
Chan, who is a professor of World Politics at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, had prior to this shock approbation of ZANU PF and Zimbabwe been instrumental in Britain’s obliteration of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade.
In an opinion piece published by the New York Times last week, Chan brought to the fore London’s shift in position with regards to Zimbabwe.
“Should there be conditions for re-engagement? The West probably won’t be able to resist making calls for less opaque financial and political dealings. But the land issue is settled: There is no politically viable force that would seek to restore farms to ousted whites,” reads part of Chan’s instalment.
“And given the implosion of any viable opposition, the West has little choice, but to work with ZANU PF.
“The world will one day soon see the end of Robert Mugabe, but his party will likely live on and it is within that party that, like it or not, the West must now find people with whom it can work toward some kind of viable future for this unhappy country.”
When Zimbabwe re-ignited its friendship with China in 2004, there was a general and probably unwritten code between the two nations that the land issue was a necessity that Harare could not afford to ignore.
This is why the Chinese focus has never been on land, but the general development of the Zimbabwean economy.
The results of this mutual understanding are about to bear fruit.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping lands in the country early next month, the fate of the British and all those who participated in the anti-Zimbabwe campaign will be sealed when he and President Robert Mugabe sign the consolidated mega deals document.
It will be a mega festival of the fruition of friendship that has long been defined by the two countries’ commitment to see the freedom of the people of Zimbabwe.
Already, modalities for the release of US$1,1 billion by Chinese financial institutions early next month for the expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station, the first tranche from mega deals signed between Presidents Mugabe and Jinping is in place.
And it has been a somewhat ‘smooth’ route to prosperity for Zimbabwe without the ever intrusive British.
A fortnight ago, the Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) announced that the country had secured investments worth US$3 billion in the first nine months of 2015.
Last week, the Government was busy with Chinese officials, signing various Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for the consolidation of the mega economic deals signed between Presidents Mugabe and Jinping in Beijing last year.
The Chinese, according to information gathered by this publication, have literary availed a blank cheque to Harare with the issues of guarantees technically a formality.
Impeccable Government sources revealed that a ‘Master Plan’ for the funding and implementation of the mega economic deals signed between Beijing and Harare in August 2014 has been completed.
All that is left is for smaller details to be dealt with and implementation of the game-changing projects will commence.
A multi-billion-dollar Harare City that will forever change the face of this country is in the offing with funding and repayment modalities having already been agreed to.
Last month, the Chinese made a statement of intent after Sable Mining entered into a MoU with Chinese company CITIC Construction Co. Ltd to develop a 600 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Zimbabwe, a deal worth US$500 million.
The plant will be constructed at the company’s 19 236-hectare Lubu Coal Project.
The proposed project is a boost to Zimbabwe’s energy supply, with the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) unit failing to supply the market due to low generation capacity.
The Government, through the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), announced a host of reforms ‘to improve the ease of doing business’.
These developments have, without doubt, sent shivers in London.
“Since the 2013 elections, our assessment of the political situation in Zimbabwe remains broadly the same with 2015 signalling some positive developments,” said Hammond.
“Within the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) administration there are signs of reformist policies beginning to emerge, especially on the economy.”
Unfortunately for Britain this is now a case of too little too late.
Zimbabwe is definitely on a roll.