Chris Chenga
After July 30, 2018 a new administration will be entrusted by Zimbabweans with five years to bring about economic growth that has been yearned for over a very long time. This has been an expectation which crosses over between Generation X’ers, frequently evoked by nostalgia of a more stable and economically gainful era in their formative years; and Millennials whom for much of their lives have grown and are reaching adulthood within an environment of consistent economic uncertainty. The ruling class over these generations has been the same, former President Mugabe’s administrations since his initial post as Prime Minister at Independence in 1980. X’ers and Millennials make up the largest share of eligible voters. This is a demographic responsive to different emotive rhetoric to the liberation politics of the last quarter century. X’ers and Millennials are approaching the July 30 election with a common aspiration of real, effectual economic growth finally bringing about some foreseeable certainty to their livelihoods. This yearn seems a well-recognized desire by all contesting parties, as campaign themes focus on the economy itself.
Current President Mnangagwa has had a head start of sorts since November 2017, and he has anchored his hopes for continued incumbency around the theme “Zimbabwe is Open for Business”, instigating an environment that welcomes investment, particularly of a global nature to stimulate the economy. But, perhaps overlooked by the enduring political elites and their long time administrative cohorts is that X’ers and Millennials, in common with foreign investors, are hoping to experience potent social stimulus! They desire this as a concurrent action to economic growth. A discourse yet to be openly engaged in Zimbabwe is the legacy of past President Robert Mugabe’s administrations’ impact on the nation’s social outlook. A clear vestige is the societal decadence that today makes Zimbabwe a monotonous, boring economy desperately yearning for social stimulus.
What X’ers and Millennials are hoping for is not limited to certainty of economic participation, but a society that fairly opens up to their dynamic potential. They hope for an economy that they can create an imprint on. Global investors see this too, and until they are persuaded of a clear infusion of social stimulus they will refrain from happily immersing themselves in what should be a vibrant Zimbabwean economy. So far, though Zimbabwe has been announced to be open for business, the shop remains dull and lacking variety. The current administration has focused on attracting global investors. It should have by now picked on the quest by global investors to seek out dynamic, innovative, and cutting edge markets; hence, the coining of term “frontier” markets. Both enterprise and investment like to interface in an atmosphere of excitement, not just yields.
Zimbabwe is dull; and this as a result is marginalizing X’ers and Millennials from fairly competing to be at the forefront of the economy. The country requires social stimulus to encourage and motivate this confidence. Indeed conversations with many mid-level professionals who are typically X’ers have a uniform resentment towards organizational, both public and private, cultures that have for long stifled creativity and innovation. This is frequently attributed to a business culture where executives run politicized fiefdoms. The larger market share or strategically important the organization is to the economy, the more traceable it is to a traditional political patronage system backed by affiliation to Mugabe’s administration, of which many enduring politicians identify with. The symptoms are clearly evident as many executives at the top of business society lack any attractive character, identity, or genuine acumen to excite X’ers and Millennials within their organizations, and naturally investors with an attentive eye pick this up.
But, today these are the organizations of which Zimbabwe is presenting to global investors who do thorough diligence of not only financials but business culture and organizational representation. It is no surprise that of the few notable industrial investments in Zimbabwe in the last several years, genuine foreign investors such as Bhakresa and Varun Beverages have insisted on bringing on their own executives and mid-level management from their economies, or more cautiously outsourced managerial decisions to offices in surrounding markets like South Africa. Zimbabwe has suffered greatly from this poor business culture. The quality reflects in the kind of investors who buy what we are selling; individuals or institutions with shady business practices that extract rather than expand our organizations. Consider the entrance of investors such as CHINT blacklisted by globally recognized institutions like the Africa Development Bank. Until this business culture typical of enduring politicians is weeded out, Zimbabwe will continue to labour along business friendly efforts, giving up more and more justifiable regulation to investors of questionable character who simply extract from back end dealings. This trait has been why further investment looks away, because once a large competition captures authorities, that entire sector especially in extractives loses its investment proposition as there is obviously no fair competition.
Indeed this overbearing political patronage hovering over business culture has slowed down many initiatives over the years. Institutions such as the Securities Exchange Commission have invited innovation such as Alternative Trading Platforms and diverse capital market infrastructure for years. Platforms such as C-Trade are welcome entrants, but perhaps years behind the rest of the world. Other regulatory institutions have become slow to open up their sectors to innovative offerings. Consider other regions such as Islamic banks getting ahead of block chain implementation as a means to reduce banking costs and customer credit. Without any guarantee of profitability, the region has already seen an influx of global investment and professionals into that sector, merely from the social outlook towards technology. That is a frontier trait; social stimulus where certain economies encourage their society to pursue cutting edge initiatives and be at the forefront of modern business practices. Accordingly, new job opportunities for a highly technological and literate Millennials generation abound, and the excitement of society continues to be infused into these regions.
Global institutions that have recently increased their visibility and engagement in Zimbabwe share this concern for social stimulus. In corridors of foreign affairs and global technical partners, expats whisper between themselves about the lack of creativity and open mindedness in their local partners. The current administration has promised and already set in motion plans for public sector reforms. But there is little evidence of home grown innovation. For instance, in Singapore, performance based salaries were locally conceived with Ministers and their portfolios being structured and rewarded according to targets of GDP growth, income growth, and employment creation. Innovations in State enterprise reforms that align public ownership with profitability yields have been conceived in the Middle East, of which many are friendly nations to Zimbabwe. Consequently, these regions exude a social confidence that make global partners and investors attracted to them, and willingly work together. In Zimbabwe, our public sector incumbents exude rudimentary and basic academic understanding, lacking progressive excitement in a manner that bores. This is why global partners based in Zimbabwe are frustrated by the shortage of X’ers and Millennials in position of public sector influence. Presently global partners find discomfort and unfamiliarity with the current administration’s deep rooted inertia. The challenge for Zimbabwe is not just economic growth as presently understood by the current administration. A greater quest will be to infuse social stimulus that evokes excitement in X’ers and Millennials, in turn catching the eyes of global investors. This is a consideration which may have a significant effect on July 30.
