Zimbabwe economic revival program jilted by SADC?


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Southern African Developemt Community countries failed to meet the deadline they set to submit of pledges to Zimbabwe’s economic revival programme as it expired last night.

Southern African Development Community Extraordinary Summit in Swaziland three weeks ago committed themselves to assisting Zimbabwe
raise US$10 billion needed to revive the country’s economy. SADC leaders set yesterday as the deadline for member states to make their individual pledges towards Zimbabwe’s economic rescue package.

It was not immediately clear what Harare’s regional counterparts would
contribute towards the package.

The regional leaders also pledged to mount an international campaign to lobby for the lifting of the Western sanctions on Harare and mobilise financial resources from institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank towards funding Zimbabwe’s economic recovery efforts.

It was not clear by yesterday evening whether any money has come through. But not much is expected to come through anytime soon as most SADC countries depend on donor funds.

Zambia’s Chief Government Spokesperson, Ronnie Shikapwasha yesterday
was quoted saying that Zambia’s official position on how much to contribute towards rebuilding Zimbabwe’s collapsed economy would only
be known after cabinet sits to discuss the matter.

At the weekend, South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, said the regional body had dispatched teams of ministers to the United States and European Union to lobby for the lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe and canvass for economic support for the inclusive Government.

Zimbabwe has vast quantities of minerals including gold and platinum with the latest discovery being diamonds, which have not been exploited and have the potential of making a significant contribution towards extricating the country from its economic doldrums.

On Tuesday Deputy Prime Minister Arther Mutambara said Government will not wait for investment from countries that are not ready to engage it. He told the Korean Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jae-Hack Oh that Government
would engage all countries interested in working with Zimbabwe. “We are not for charity but would want to deal in economic issues. We are a profitable country and we have the resources for all that are interested to invest in Zimbabwe,” he said.

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