The ManicaPost
THE concept of foreign aid began in the 19th century, with richer countries helping out poorer ones.
By the 1920s, countries like Britain, Germany and France were providing regular aid to their colonies in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
However, after the various countries gained their independence, foreign support has continued to come in.
In Zimbabwe, the value of foreign aid since 1980 runs into billions of dollars.
While some of the humanitarian aid has come with no strings attached, some of it is channelled into the country through civic organisations that are pushing shady agendas.
In addition to this, the provision of foreign assistance has, at times, developed a culture of dependency in Africa and fostered paternalism—as opposed to partnership—with the West.
Thus, as Zimbabwe celebrates its 41st Independence Anniversary, it is refreshing to note that Government has been implementing policies that create an enabling environment to build prosperity through job creation, regional integration, and economic development as a means of escaping the claws of aid dependency.
Zimbabwe’s economy is anchored on the agricultural sector and therefore success recorded in this sector will cascade across all other sectors and ensure the nation’s development and food sufficiency.
The success of Zimbabwe’s agrarian reform, which was started in 2000, has now been complimented by two crucial schemes — the Command Agriculture and Climate-Proofed Presidential Inputs Programme (Pfumvudza).
Due to Command Agriculture, Zimbabwe produced more maize in 2017 than was ever grown by white farmers.
Maize production for that season was 2.2 million tonnes.
This year, with Pfumvudza rolled out, Zimbabwe is expecting between 2.5 million and 2.8 million tonnes of maize and 360 000 tonnes of traditional grains, the largest yield since the fast-track land reform started in 2000.
Long-term investment in the agricultural sector in the form of irrigation facilities and mechanisation will address food insecurity and create the necessary employment opportunities for Zimbabwean youth.
But more is happening outside the lucrative agricultural sector.
Government has been creating policies aimed at supporting a private sector that favours business growth, job creation, and stimulation of the economy. Through sound fiscal and monetary policies, good governance, transparency and an improved investment climate, all is set for a flourishing private sector.
President Mnangagwa has also set the tone on corruption, with responsible authorities investigating and clamping down on the vice as Zimbabwe continues to work towards achieving Vision 2030.
Corruption has been identified as one of the greatest impediments to investor confidence and consequently economic growth and therefore it has to be thumped out.
In moving away from a reliance on foreign aid, Zimbabwe is also seeking to improve regional integration initiatives. These are key in sustaining development and encouraging long-term prosperity, not just for the country, but for the entire region.
According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the current level of trade between African states is only 12 percent, compared to 60 percent for Europe, 40 percent for North America, and 30 percent for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)).
Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is seeking to establish free trade among all 54 states on the continent and establish the world’s largest single market and effectively boost trade between African states by 50 percent.
Increasing intra-African trade is key in accelerating national economic growth as it will increase industry competition, improve productivity, and develop local infrastructure.
That said, Zimbabwe has made enormous democratic and economic progress since the attainment of Independence and now seats on a respectable position on the global stage. Government and all other stakeholders must work hard to continue on this trend.
Zimbabwe must therefore continue identifying its own priorities, defining and implementing them.
This is not the prerogative of any donor.
