News / International
U.S.A may pump billions in reconstruction package for Zimbabwe - Report
22 Apr 2016 at 07:20hrs | Views
Cologne/Stockholm/Harare - The U.S government is reportedly mooting to unveil a multi-billion dollar economic reconstruction package of up to US$2 billion for Zimbabwe, to resuscitate her economy which has been in a tailspin for over a decade, Spotlight Zimbabwe reported.
The potential lifeline, according to an informed Scandinavian banker who has previously worked in the country, including South Africa and Zambia under diplomatic business is only going to be made available by Washington, if Harare holds free and fair elections with a democratically elected regime in power, which could be an inference to the aftermath of the make or break 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections, where the ruling Zanu PF party is expected to suffer defeat to a grand coalition of opposition parties, likely to be collectively led by MDC-T leader and former prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai together with interim Zimbabwe People First president, Joice Mujuru.
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya were in Washington for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual spring meetings, which ended last Sunday, and it was not apparent yesterday, if the duo are aware of this seemingly closely guarded development, outside their official trip, ahead of an important IMF board meeting scheduled for May 2, to decide the fate of Harare's arrears clearance strategy, expected to facilitate the country's re-integration into the global finance community.
Harare last year tabled proposals to clear US$1, 8 billion in arrears to the World Bank, IMF and the African Development Bank (AfDB) by June this year during IMF and WB annual meetings in Lima, Peru.
The mooted reconstruction package for the country, is reminiscent of The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, ERP, said the banker, which was an American initiative to aid Western Europe with approximately $130 billion in current dollar terms in economic support to help shattered economies after the end of World War II.
Like the Marshall plan, Washington is said to be aiming to help in modernising Zimbabwe's run-down industry, and to increase productivity while also encouraging sustainable sound economic policies.
It also has come to light, for the first time in confidential disclosures that the Zimbabwe economic reconstruction initiative, has been flying around since the presidency of George W. Bush and was tabled around 2005, and began to take shape under current leader Obama, who reportedly further discussed the "reconstruction package" when he met Tsvangirai, while he was still prime minister during the coalition administration with Mugabe on 12 June 2009, amid anticipation that the MDC-T leader was going to sweep to power in 2013.
In 2002 and 2003, the United States imposed targeted measures on Zimbabwe, including financial and visa sanctions against selected individuals, a ban on transfers of defence items and services, and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance.
Bush went on to freeze the assets of Mugabe and 76 other government officials, charging they had undermined democracy, through an executive order, saying: "Mugabe's policies constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to . . . the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."
The targeted sanctions still remain in place, and are up for review later this year.
"America does not want Zimbabwe to fail, for complex geo-political reasons," said the banker. "The issue of the reconstruction package according to my information while I was there (Harare and Pretoria), started gathering momentum around 2005, when South African President Thabo Mbeki, met with Bush at the Oval Office in June of that year, prior to a G8 summit that was held in Scotland. Obviously they discussed agendas related to South Africa, but Zimbabwe also came into focus as Mbeki was trusted as the point-man on Zim. Diplomats close to the issue at the time said there is a possibility of US$2 billion being granted to a new government for the economic reconstruction of your beautiful country. Zimbabwe is not small as you might think. That country is in a big way influencing the foreign policy of many African governments towards the U.S and Europe. I'm positive this package will be unlocked, when the opposition takes power, because they will be less tempted to embezzle it, unlike what you are having now."
Calls to the U.S Embassy in Harare were not being answered by late afternoon yesterday, and earlier in the week an official with the Public Affairs Section, who declined to be named said such a story for political reasons is difficult to confirm.
"Confirmation of this story is very difficult, because it involves many players and everyone at the moment is concentrating on the upcoming presidential elections in the US coming in November. There have been such reports during Ambassador Christopher William Dell's tenure, but I guess this information is still classified."
Former finance minister and opposition leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Tendai Biti, told Spotlight Zimbabwe, that he did not see the so-called reconstruction package materializing and did not want to be involved in speculation.
"It is highly unlikely (the economic package)," said Biti. "Let us wait and see what happens in America first, because they are having elections soon. I don't see a person like Donald Trump or Ted Cruz caring about Africa or Zimbabwe. Let's just wait."
The potential lifeline, according to an informed Scandinavian banker who has previously worked in the country, including South Africa and Zambia under diplomatic business is only going to be made available by Washington, if Harare holds free and fair elections with a democratically elected regime in power, which could be an inference to the aftermath of the make or break 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections, where the ruling Zanu PF party is expected to suffer defeat to a grand coalition of opposition parties, likely to be collectively led by MDC-T leader and former prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai together with interim Zimbabwe People First president, Joice Mujuru.
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya were in Washington for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual spring meetings, which ended last Sunday, and it was not apparent yesterday, if the duo are aware of this seemingly closely guarded development, outside their official trip, ahead of an important IMF board meeting scheduled for May 2, to decide the fate of Harare's arrears clearance strategy, expected to facilitate the country's re-integration into the global finance community.
Harare last year tabled proposals to clear US$1, 8 billion in arrears to the World Bank, IMF and the African Development Bank (AfDB) by June this year during IMF and WB annual meetings in Lima, Peru.
The mooted reconstruction package for the country, is reminiscent of The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, ERP, said the banker, which was an American initiative to aid Western Europe with approximately $130 billion in current dollar terms in economic support to help shattered economies after the end of World War II.
Like the Marshall plan, Washington is said to be aiming to help in modernising Zimbabwe's run-down industry, and to increase productivity while also encouraging sustainable sound economic policies.
It also has come to light, for the first time in confidential disclosures that the Zimbabwe economic reconstruction initiative, has been flying around since the presidency of George W. Bush and was tabled around 2005, and began to take shape under current leader Obama, who reportedly further discussed the "reconstruction package" when he met Tsvangirai, while he was still prime minister during the coalition administration with Mugabe on 12 June 2009, amid anticipation that the MDC-T leader was going to sweep to power in 2013.
Bush went on to freeze the assets of Mugabe and 76 other government officials, charging they had undermined democracy, through an executive order, saying: "Mugabe's policies constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to . . . the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."
The targeted sanctions still remain in place, and are up for review later this year.
"America does not want Zimbabwe to fail, for complex geo-political reasons," said the banker. "The issue of the reconstruction package according to my information while I was there (Harare and Pretoria), started gathering momentum around 2005, when South African President Thabo Mbeki, met with Bush at the Oval Office in June of that year, prior to a G8 summit that was held in Scotland. Obviously they discussed agendas related to South Africa, but Zimbabwe also came into focus as Mbeki was trusted as the point-man on Zim. Diplomats close to the issue at the time said there is a possibility of US$2 billion being granted to a new government for the economic reconstruction of your beautiful country. Zimbabwe is not small as you might think. That country is in a big way influencing the foreign policy of many African governments towards the U.S and Europe. I'm positive this package will be unlocked, when the opposition takes power, because they will be less tempted to embezzle it, unlike what you are having now."
Calls to the U.S Embassy in Harare were not being answered by late afternoon yesterday, and earlier in the week an official with the Public Affairs Section, who declined to be named said such a story for political reasons is difficult to confirm.
"Confirmation of this story is very difficult, because it involves many players and everyone at the moment is concentrating on the upcoming presidential elections in the US coming in November. There have been such reports during Ambassador Christopher William Dell's tenure, but I guess this information is still classified."
Former finance minister and opposition leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Tendai Biti, told Spotlight Zimbabwe, that he did not see the so-called reconstruction package materializing and did not want to be involved in speculation.
"It is highly unlikely (the economic package)," said Biti. "Let us wait and see what happens in America first, because they are having elections soon. I don't see a person like Donald Trump or Ted Cruz caring about Africa or Zimbabwe. Let's just wait."
Source - spotlight
