Published by the government of Zimbabwe
13 March 2008
opinion
Harare — As I stated last week, the March 29 elections: the launch of manifestos, the campaigns and the countrywide rallies have stolen the limelight from any other news.
The closer the elections date the hotter the campaigns are becoming. Internationally we are being bombarded with the campaigns of presidential hopefuls democrats Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton and republicans' John McCain.
Such developments naturally take away the juice from other stories not necessarily related to these events to the extent that as journalists we have to summon our journalistic muscle to ensure we attract some percentage of the readers or viewers to other non-election news.
However, the major highlight last week, outside the sloganeering, was the launch of Phase Three of the Farm Mechanisation programme, aptly described as a project no other African country has managed to not only launch but sustain as the Government, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, has done.
Hats off to President Mugabe and his team, and the RBZ for empowering farmers in such a manner. While this is a laudable exercise, my attention was this time caught more by the concurrent launch of Phase One of the Intermediate Technology Equipment to empower small to medium-sized businesses and women and youth. This is a programme with short term, medium term and long term benefits to this economy, with potential to generate wealth and jobs, dealing decisively with the causes of inflation.
Such interventionist programmes are expected to complement the agricultural mechanisation project, thus combining to rejuvenate economic activity. The world over, it is an agreed fact that SMEs are the engine for sustainable economic growth. Therefore, providing technology and funding for the sector is indeed a key ingredient for economic growth.
India's economic performance today is giving lots of headache to traditional powerhouses such as the United States, and this stems from a vibrant SMEs sector.
The availability of technologies such as milk processors, wire mesh machines, toilet roll making machines and the diaper/nappy and sanitary pads machines, among others is indeed landmark. Such programmes can only see the arrest of economic decline sooner rather than later. A major constraint to the economic progression of the SMEs sector here and elsewhere on the continent has been the lack of requisite technology.
At many workshop on Smes I have attended over the years, poor access to technology has repeatedly been cited as a major constraint. In many instances it has either been that the technology is not available or in cases that you find it on the local market, it is priced beyond the reach of many.
But the Intermediate Technology Equipment programme deals with these challenges in a decisive manner. "Answering to the vision and direction by Government, it is pleasing that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe once again demonstrated its practical approach through the incisive international research they have conducted to scout for SMEs technologies which we hereby unveil," said President Mugabe in his Foreword in a document dubbed Accelerating Economic Empowerment Through Affordable and Unique Manufacturing Technologies".
Allen is a tour operator in South Africa who stayed in Zimbabwe for seven years and then went back home to start his business. He often comes regularly to touch base with the country that he calls his second home. He speaks about this country with a passion you could almost think he is Zimbabwean save for his South African accent and the manner with which he pronounces words in both Shona and English. When I met him at Oliver Tambo Airport last week he somehow immediately recognised that my sister and I were from Zimbabwe and he could not hide his pleasure in meeting sisters from "home".
As we drove from the airport he started talking about this country in a manner that showed he was up to speed with developments here. Of course the most topical issue were the forthcoming elections and how Zimbabweans viewed them. The discussions then moved to economic and social issues. He spoke of how he provided his services to many Zimbabweans visiting SA. An occasional call on his mobile would be punctuated by words such as "I am with two sisters from Zimbabwe so I will come over after I drop them".
Martin is a Zimbabwean based in SA over the past few years. He has opened a business and recently bought a house in one of Johannesburg's affluent suburbs. We met him in one of the shops and when he heard us speak in Shona he immediately came to greet us with a smile.
"Its good to see you ladies. How is Zimbabwe? I really miss home. We all want to come home one of these days," he said.
We spoke for a few minutes as he briefed us on how he was doing in SA and stressing that he would really want to come back home soon to set up businesses and share the knowledge and expertise he has amassed in his engineering field.
He said he was proud to be Zimbabwean stressing that this nation was blessed and had exhibited a high degree of resilience in face of pressure from some corners of the globe.
Naturally our discussions in the few minutes also touched on the March 29 elections that have become topical not just in Zimbabwe but the world over as many bring out their telescopes to view the developments on that front.
For some reason, any developments in Zimbabwe have attracted so much attention one is left to conclude that there is something very special and unique about this country.
We met other Zimbabweans during our stay in SA. They all had something in common: an untainted passion for their motherland! They would all want to come back home at some point to contribute towards socio-economic development.
It was so refreshing to meet Zimbabweans away from home talking passionately about their country. I have had experiences where people frown at you the minute they hear you are from Zimbabwe while in other cases some of the Zimbos out there are so negative about their country it hurts.
Our Money Matters column guy Moses Mujati a few weeks ago said that while Zimbabweans are busy denigrating their country, many investors are strategically positioning themselves to seize any opportunities.
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