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Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Media's Pickled Politics
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The Zimbabwe Guardian (London)
OPINION
21 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Itayi Garande
SO WHAT if Abramovich (or Abro) wants to invest in Zimbabwe? Surely we cannot be inundated with such stories.
The independent media has carved out an erudite niche with stories of Roman Abramovich's desire to invest in Zimbabwe, or more specifically to resuscitate the Hwange Colliery.
The Abro story and its razzmatazz -- from the poor laptop to the indignant House of Commons committees in Westminster -- will be hot air, at least for a while.
I write this with some trepidation and perturbation. I always had the impression that every Zimbabwean wanted industry in the country resuscitated, and the economy propelled forward.
I have never felt that an investment opportunity could carry any negative connotations; however several Zimbabwean chaps recently expressed their intense dislike of Abramovich's move. I wonder why.
Scratch the surface and you find that Abramovich's move is far more than just an itch. Abro embodies the things that many Westerners despise: the rise of Russia, a non-Western billionaire, a symbol of success outside their confines.
So what if Kate Hoey thinks Abramovich has made a wrong move? Abro has every right to take his investment where he wants. How about Hoey throwing a short put at Rowland's Lonrho's move to bottle water in Zimbabwe or better still throwing a javelin at Citigroup's bid to snatch 20 per cent of ABC Holdings in Zim?
I'm not sure of the point being made by trailing Abramovich's move. Excuse me for being ignorant. He is an individual with wads of cash.
Actually he is a fabulously wealthy Russian who wants to take his cash to a tiny landlocked mineral-rich African country. That's where the contention is. That's where the West comes in; that's where our indy-media comes in.
But leaving that aside, Abramovich represents a new order feared by Washington and London -- the East working with the South. He represents the demise of the Washington Consensus.
The West is eyeing the South's mineral wealth, and its untapped natural resources, and the potential market for dumping pointlessly mass produced goods.
Well, Abro has proved that he's not one of theirs. He will not be paddocked in deciding where to take his billions. He is the anti-Crocker, so deserved. The Crocker that 'crocked', "We'll make Zimbabwe scream!"
So the sarcastic quip about Abramovich's acquisitions and divestitures should be spared. This Abramovich ballyhoo is much-a-say-about-nothing. Let the man spend his money, where he wants, period.
Spare us the rituals about Abro this and Abro that. It matters not a jot in the face of the wider Zimbabwean politics. That he has zipped it means that he wants to be left alone. What a carry-on!
You wonder why commentators and Labour MPs are getting their knickers in a twist over the visit; yet Abramovich's investment will fuel the boom desperately needed in Zimbabwe.
Are they trying to get some undeserved utility over Abramovich's investments? Sounds like Olonga's rants and chants over Zim sporting ban.
Commentators heed this: Bring us the real politics, the real policy. Don't replace policy with theatre. No Afrika! Afrika! please and don't reduce seasoned political hacks to bar-room chat.
The "You'd never guess what I heard" school of political and economic analysis seems to be taking over mature and informed debates.
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The so-called "new and progressive media" seems to be making its living out of generating and creating political stories and nit-picking on political figures when the real action is elsewhere.
This is a reflection of how slow the media is to change in face of the rapidly transforming world events, and the realignment of World Power -- and how desperate it is for the exclusive story.
If there's no exclusive, there's no exclusive. Spare Abro some aggro.
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