THERE is an untold story about the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially where Zimbabwe is concerned, where it will be and how it has managed, for two decades to defy the odds and still be able to continue with its long and painful march towards economic emancipation.

That story has revolved around the tenet of hard work that Zimbabweans have showed since the pre-colonial era.

This is despite the intermittent interruptions by outsiders, some of which have bordered on outright aggression.

The year 2000, when Zimbabwe embarked on the revolutionary Land Reform and Resettlement Programme, which resulted in one of the most sophisticated and sustained economic warfare on a sovereign nation, quickly comes to mind when unravelling this compelling narrative. 

Such was the anger from Western countries that illegal economic sanctions were imposed to send a message to other developing countries which would have dared to pursue a similar project.

What came out of this aggression was a motivated people who took it upon themselves to extricate the country from the doldrums.

That has since become the hallmark of the people of Zimbabwe as they forage through the sanctions-infested terrain towards development.

But along the way, something terrible has happened to the people of Zimbabwe.

The seemingly never ending intrusion into our internal affairs by outsiders has severely divided the country.

On the one hand is a side that has made a meal out of the misplaced notion that nothing good ever comes out of this country, while on the other is a grouping that has firmly grounded their efforts on developing their motherland.

The latter group, maligned as it is, has created the new economy in the country.

It is that economy that has been attacked and derisively called informal and, with it, a sign of Government’s alleged failure to turn around the economy.

Even the hardworking farmers have not been spared from the vicious attacks.

The artisanal miners, despite their immense contribution to the economy, have been labelled as being among the component that makes Government a ‘failure’.

But that alleged failure will soon put the country’s detractors to shame when the pandemic ends.

Economies across the globe have taken a serious battering and will need to be restructured and to start afresh.

New economies, too, will emerge from the pandemic.

Zimbabwe has already taken the lead in restructuring its economy through the Land Reform and Resettlement and Economic Empowerment programmes.

Add to that the resilience and hard work of the people of Zimbabwe, then you have a budding economy.

An April 22 2020 report by an online publication moderndiplomacy titled Impact of COVID-19 on Global economic structure’ gives a vivid description of how the pandemic has affected the global economy.

“Also, many experts on economic and financial matters have warned about the worsening condition of global economic and financial structure,” reads the report in part.

“Such as Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of International Monitory Fund (IMF), explained that ‘…a recession at least as bad as during the Global Financial Crisis or worse’ . Moreover, COVID-19 is harming the global economy because the world has been experiencing the most difficult economic situation since World War-II.

It also observed that the economic recovery from this fatal disease is only possible by 2021 because it has left severe impacts on the global economy and the countries face multiple difficulties to bring it back in a stable condition. Most of the nations are going through recession and collapse of their economic structure that points out the staggering conditions for them, in this regard almost 80 countries have already requested International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial help.”

In Zimbabwe, Government has put together an ZWL$18 billion package to assist companies that have been affected by the pandemic.

The biggest chunk of the package, which is 72 percent, will go towards business while 28 percent will cushion other sectors such as health.

The breakdown is as follows:

“Agriculture support ($6,08 billion), Working Capital Fund ($3,02 billion), Mining Sector Fund ($1 billion), SME Support Fund ($500 million), Arts Sector Fund ($20 million), Liquidity Release from Statutory Reserves ($2 billion), Health Sector Support Fund ($1 billion), Broad Relief Measures ($1,50 billion), Food Grant ($2,40 billion).” (The Herald, May 4 2020) 

In his address to the nation on Friday last week at State House, President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed that the package would be used to ramp up production across all sectors of the economy.

“So far our response to this pandemic has seen us putting in place a ZW $18 billion Economic Rescue and Stimulus Package, which amounts to 9 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or 28,6 percent of the 2020 National Budget,” said President Mnangagwa. 

“The package is proportionate to the disruption the virus has caused in our national economy.

This Economic Rescue and Stimulus Package is designed to scale-up production in all the sectors of the economy in response to the adverse effects of COVID-19.

The package will also be used to address the needs of the small-scale industries, improve health facilities, reduce poverty and hardships and assist vulnerable groups in our society.

While most countries will continue to benefit from financing packages from multilateral lenders like the IMF, World Bank and AfDB, Zimbabwe will unfortunately not benefit.”

As the country and the rest of the world continue to grapple with the devastating effects of COVID-19, it is important to keep in mind that the road ahead can only be navigated through hard work.