By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Zimbabwe has taken the World Economic as a bridge to the international market. This a forum where the world is divide by the war in Ukraine. Africa countries should proactive and stop getting involved in the wars being fought but benefit from those wars.
Zimbabwe is to use this Forum to take its position in the global economy and rise with those rising.
Zimbabweans in Zurich on the sidelines of meeting @edmnangagwa pic.twitter.com/tJBRGylqw9
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) May 27, 2022
Zimbabwe will tap in its diaspora to grow its economy. During this Forum the President will address Zimbabweans in diaspora and will encourage them to set up a team of Experts and investors who wants to venture into massive farming drive, engineering business and several fields. Zimbabwe should take a lead exporting food to countries fighting wars.
Currently Europe is already plunging in Economic depression and food prices are going mad and Africa should step in and make money.
Now that Europe is experiencing war in its front gate Africa must increase food production. We must change our priorities and encourage people to venture into farming and mining to meet the demand. We must establish an African platform to assist and encourage African products.
Zimbabwe must grab this opportunity to become a giant. The country has a capacity to become a world giant in food production and mineral products market. Zimbabwe must influence Africa to create the single African Union currency backed by gold and diamonds to trade with those fighting.
Zimbabwe must encourage its diaspora to study, the economies of the countries in Europe and see where we can make a reasonable trade pact.
This forum has given Zimbabwe a chance especially with it’s good climate and environment to become a great economy and the largest supplier of several products. The president will encourage diaspora to engage in engineering and revamp our dams our rivers and our roads.
Zimbabwe stands to benefit more in this Forum. The World Bank estimates that by 2035, real income gains from full implementation of the agreement could be 7%, or nearly $450bn. By 2035, the volume of total exports would increase by almost 29% relative to business as usual. Intra-continental exports would increase by more than 81%, while exports to non-African countries would rise by 19%.The Bank predicts that the agreement could contribute to lifting an additional 30m people from extreme poverty and 68m people from moderate poverty. Yet the impact across countries will not be uniform. The World Bank says that at the very high end, countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe could see income gains of 14% each. At the low end, some – such as Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique – would see real income gains of only around 2%.
Zimbabwe need the AfCFTA for Trade integration across the African continent and escape the outdated border and transport infrastructure and a patchwork of differing regulations across dozens of markets. Nations have often erected trade barriers to defend their markets from regional competition, making it more expensive for countries to trade with near neighbours than countries much further afield. The world being a global village no country can survive on its own. To this end Zimbabwe has taken the drive to be first in the global lines.
Negativism’s fuelled by the opposition will not stop Zimbabwean success in all this. Together with the AfCFTA Zimbabwe will succeed.
We must know that AfCFTA gives Africa a chance to speak with one voice in trade negotiations.
Europe has 13 types of trade arrangements with Africa, each of which it defends firmly, but some of our people lack the simple understanding that the country needs support of others.
“Europe needs to understand the direction Africa is going in with the setting up of the AfCFTA… We Africans must be more united to defend our own interests, and Zimbabwe must not be left out.
AfCFTA is an African project that will require African commitment to succeed. It must proceed regardless of what happens elsewhere. We can expect external actors to continue to pursue policies that run counter to Africa’s objectives as long as such policies benefit them. Even as we have made clear our intent to move trade along a multilateral track, Africa’s largest partners may seek to pursue a bilateral one.
As for the opposition spinning of the true benefit of this Forum and Zimbabwe’s involvement in Davos and Despite the rhetoric of Africa’s external partners, the continent’s prosperity has never been the true objective of their policies and we cannot expect that to change now.”
Zimbabwe is open for business.