eBusiness Weekly
Business people are hoping that now the elections are over the Government and new Parliament can devote their entire attention to doing their share of accelerating economic growth and getting Zimbabwe’s manifold problems sorted out.
As we and others had noted there was little of any ideological difference between the major parties contesting the election and that the voters would rather be choosing which team they thought would be able to deliver.
In the end the majority chose and presumably carried that through by choosing Emmerson Mnangagwa over his young and considerably less experienced rival Nelson Chamisa.
Again, we can speculate that if there had not been a major change in November last year then it was likely that Zanu-PF would have been coming second, rather than first, in the election. The eight months available to the Mnangagwa administration were just enough to show the voters that they were serious about getting the country back on the tracks.
Equally important as choosing a Government team was the need to show the world that this team was a genuine choice in a properly-conducted election that was credible, free and fair. Whoever formed the new Government had to have both a mandate that everyone recognized was legitimate. In this regard, and listening to the preliminary reports from observers, it appears that Zimbabwe did rather well, having a peaceful election and one where everyone could freely campaign.
The Wednesday riots should not have any serious effect on this perception. It was a small group, if a violent one. The violence harms the opposition though and one wonders if this is how they treat a city where won how would have they reacted in an area where they lost. We hope that the opposition leadership, some of whom have let their mouths run away from their brains, will reign in their youthful supporters.
One of the most important changes since November last year has been the retreat from corruption and even more widespread cronyism. The President and his Government smile on those who are expanding business, swelling employment and paying taxes and do not seem to worry about whether that business person supports them politically, or who the person may or may not be related to or where the home village, if there is one, might be.
It was interesting that President Mnangagwa spent quite a bit of time in the run-up to the election meeting people and reaching out to people who did not support him politically and were unlikely to do so. He appeared more interested in ensuring that they thought themselves part of Zimbabwe and continued generating wealth and jobs, which benefits everyone including a politician using statistics to run for office.
Connections are no longer required to get special treatment or contracts and a warning shot has already been fired through the prosecution and jailing of a former minister who ordered business to be passed on to friends of his. There was no proof, or even any evidence led, of corruption, just a hard prosecution to show abuse of office and a willful failure to follow the rules. More prosecutions are pending we gather.
While corruption grabs the headlines, the more insidious and more common cronyism, using connections illicitly to gain advantage can be more damaging, if only because it is legal and thus far harder to suppress.
The attack on granting favours also makes it a lot easier to implement policies that make doing business a lot easier. In a crony-loving environment having dozens of rules and bits of paper gives a lot of power to those who have to implement these rules and grant the bits of paper, and greasing the wheels becomes almost necessary.
If the procedures are few, essential and simple – such as following standard regulations on health and safety, the environment, labour regulations and a simple tax code – then there are no wheels to grease. If you do not need a piece of useless paper no one can ask for a favour to grant it.
The President’s oft quoted statement that he wants to put the economy before politics needs to be interpreted in the context that he is a politician. But a smart politician seeking office or campaigning for his successor and who can state that on his watch the economy grew 35 percent in five years can claim political credit. In that scenario everyone is a winner. In parts of Asia the GDP growth rate can make or break a political career, and perhaps Africa can learn from that.
Generally we expect that the business community has no problems with the election result, but expects that the new Mnangagwa Government will push even harder for the reforms that everyone now generally agrees are still required. Delivery of promises is what matters, not the cheap words.
