Recent media reports pointing that the government intends to come up with a Sex Worker’s Bill with an aim of protecting sex workers in the country, shocked quite a few of us. Already, many questions have been raised than answers.
At the outset, to say that prostitution is not happening in the country is to be disingenuous. Nowadays, it is commonplace to find sex workers in many country’s roads and entertainment centres. Of even more painful to note is that a majority of sex workers who ply their trade in these places are girls who are in their adolescent stage. This paints a gloomy picture of this country’s future.
At a time when the HIV/AIDS scourge is ravaging a lot of Malawians, it is sad that many women are still selling their bodies at the expense of their lives. However, as old wisdom holds that it takes two to tango, it is also very unfortunate that while HIV/AIDS messages are now on the lips of almost every Malawian, many men are shoving their precious lives to fate by hooking up with these sex workers.
Granted, there are protective measures of avoiding the contraction of the deadly virus such as the use of condoms, but if other recent reports coming from the National Aids Commission (Nac) are anything to go by, Malawians should shudder to come to terms with these facts.
According to Bernard Malango, NAC Board Chairperson, condom use in Malawi is just only about 50 per cent. What this essentially means is that half the population of Malawians, who engage in sexual behaviour, do not use condoms. Surely, one can safely argue that many sex workers also throw condoms to the wind.
So, while the government plans to come up with a Sex Worker’s Bill with an aim of removing sex workers out of the streets sound a good idea on face value, it will not arrest the problem of HIV infection and transmission among sex workers. In fact, there are huge problems associated with the whole sound of the intended Bill.
Firstly, remarks coming from Minister of Gender, Child and Community Development, Patricia Kaliati that this Bill plans to make these sex workers operate from homes in stead of streets, begs the question; how is this different from legalizing prostitution?
It does not actually make sense for government to come up with a Bill to allow sex workers to ply their trade in homes, while prohibiting them to operate in the streets. In fact, by allowing them to operate in homes, is the same as legalizing prostitution.
It should also be noted that many sex workers operate in the streets and other entertainment centres largely because they are cognizant of the fact that these are the places that their clients often loiter and harbour. So, saying that they should operate from their homes is almost impossible and in the end they will still be coming back to the streets for their markets.
Remember the issue of street vending which is refusing to be brought to a halt in the country’s cities and towns.
So, one wonders how the government is going to regulate sex work which is mainly a nocturnal activity when it has arguably failed to curb street vending in broad day lights?
Furthermore, while the government innocuously intends to protect the rights of sex workers who are oftentimes abused by their clients, it, at the same time, blinks the fact that sex workers sometimes also infringe the rights of their clients. For example, they violate the right to life of their clients if they conduct their business with the full knowledge of their HIV positive status.
Of course, Malawi is a democratic country, where the enjoyment of inalienable rights is the hallmark, but by protecting the rights of the sex workers, it is like the government is contradicting itself since the Penal Code is clear on all those people who transmit dangerous diseases intentionally to others.
And, it appears HIV infection rates are appallingly higher among sex workers. Recently, Secretary for HIV/AIDS and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr. Mary Shawa, was quoted in one of the local papers as saying that the infection rates of HIV among sex workers are as high as 70 and 80 per cent. Surely, one can argue that it is therefore activities like prostitution that are reversing the fight against HIV/AIDS.
So, coming up with a Bill to protect these sex workers will have devastating consequences on many Malawians. It will mean that government has approved this illegal and immoral activity to be taking place in underground and hidden places. And many sex workers will be doing their activities without looking over their shoulders thereby opening the floodgates to prostitution. Actually, by approving underground prostitution, the government is giving a nod for sex workers to go on rampage and spread HIV/AIDS.
Moreover, it should be noted that prostitution is on the increase mainly because of poverty. Sex workers indulge in this illicit activity largely because they want to escape from the life of penury that is constantly on their backs. For example, HIV/AIDS has claimed a lot of Malawian lives and as a consequence, this has made a lot of children to be orphans. This has therefore resulted in the increase of young sex workers who have taken prostitution as their means of survival.
So, it is going to be difficult to arrest the problem of prostitution in the streets since many sex workers sell their bodies because they want to earn a living out of it.
All these problems point to the fact that coming up with a Sex Workers Bill with an aim of making prostitution to be done in homes in stead of streets, will not be a solution to the problem of prostitution. To the contrary, this will aggravate the already worsen situation of prostitution in the country since sex workers will be engaging in their activities without fearing to be caught on the wrong side of the law.
It should also be noted that protecting sex workers from different sorts of abuse, can only be possible if the government legalise prostitution. Let’s be more reasonable here; how is the government going to be protecting sex workers when there is clause in the country’s laws that stipulate that prostitution, in every sense of the word, is illegal? Simply put, formulating a Sex Workers Bill will be a great stride towards the legalisation of prostitution in the country.
In my view, the solution to prostitution in the country does not lie in making them perform their unfathomable activities in homes instead of streets but strengthening the already existing laws by arresting and bringing to book all sex workers who are found loitering in every corner of this country. It is therefore unfortunate and disheartening to learn that some police officers when they find these sex workers in the streets, demand sex as a bribe instead of arresting them. Surely, this should change if prostitution is to be brought to a grinding halt .Rooting out prostitution in the country will require a holistic approach not just quick fix solutions.
This article appeared in the Sunday Times as an OP-Ed. I wrote the Opinion Debate with my friend and classmate Fletcher Bokelukamba Simwaka. However, I have posted my article only because I couldnt find Fletcher's article.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
AN APPRAISAL OF ZIMBABWE’S ECONOMIC PERFOMANCE: ISSUES, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, has passed through peaks and troughs of performance and effectiveness since the dawn of colonialism and provides an interesting case study for the Southern African region. The country, once described as the breadbasket of Africa, is now passing through a critical economic malaise largely due to poor economic policies and bad political leadership. Zimbabwe’s economy is in ruins with hyperinflation and unemployment at around 80 per cent (BBC, 2009). Millions of Zimbabweans are in dire need of food and the country’s infrastructures and institutions are in shambles. This is not all; a majority of adult population is unemployed and owing to this, many Zimbabweans have fled Zimbabwe in search for a new lease of life. Zimbabwe’s children are blighted by the highest mortality, malnourishment and stunted growth of all sub-Saharan region countries (ibid). Cases of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other deadly diseases are not uncommon. Over and above, poverty in Zimbabwe remains considerably high and pervasive and millions of Zimbabweans continue to live lives of deprivation and hardship just to clinch it all.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economic performance of Zimbabwe. However, it is important to appreciate the fact that any attempt to grasp the economic performance of Zimbabwe has to be situated and analysed within the overall history of the country’s economy since independence and even beyond. However, for the purposes of this discussion, this essay, among other things, offers a brief political and economic history of Zimbabwe. Furthermore, it outlines the rationale for the economic policies Zimbabwe has pursued over the years and the peculiarity about this country’s economic policies. Additionally, the essay compares Zimbabwe’s economic performance with other few countries in the Southern Africa region. Finally, this essay points out the general challenges and opportunities Zimbabwe is currently facing.
THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE
According to World Book Encyclopedia (2001:596), “Zimbabwe has had a troubled political history.” Zimbabwe, formerly called Southern Rhodesia was the former British colony which became an independent Republic on 18th April 1980 after a prolonged war of liberation. The head of state since independence has been Robert Mugabe, leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party (Sichone, 2003:1). However, the political history of Zimbabwe dates back to the 1400s when there was a branch of the Shona called the Karanga which established the Mwanamutapa Empire which included most land of what is now called Zimbabwe. Since Zimbabwe is endowed with vast amount of minerals such as gold, many Europeans especially the British came to occupy Zimbabwe hence that was the beginning of colonialism. In 1897, the Britain recognized Southern and Northern Rhodesia as separate entities.
In 1953, the Britain set up the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which was later dissolved in 1963 (Hazzlewood, 1967:228). In 1964, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia became independent while Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) did not. As a consequence, a prolonged fighting between black Zimbabweans and white rulers broke up as many black Zimbabweans started clamouring for independence. In 1979, due to outside and internal pressure, the then prime minister of Zimbabwe Ian Smith began to cede some level of authority to the blacks. Finally, the whites succumbed to calls of independence and an election was held in 1979 which resulted in a government with a majority of black leaders and Abel Muzorewa became the first black Prime Minister (WBE, 2001:597).
However, there were some misunderstanding with the way these elections were held and as a result another election was held in 1980 which saw the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) claiming a landslide victory (Mandoza, 1986:84). Since the ZANU-PF accumulated many parliamentary seats, its leader, Robert Mugabe, was automatically elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. And as already stated, Britain granted independence to Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980 and because of this many whites returned home. After five years, another set of elections were also held and Mugabe returned his position. However, in 1987, the office of the Prime Minister was replaced by the office of the president as the highest government post (ibid).
Since 1980, Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe but his reign has been marred by many political bickering, violence and tension coupled with a dwindling economic performance. For example, the opposition parties have always disputed the elections that happen in the Zimbabwe as undemocratic. This has especially been true as evidenced by the disputed elections in March 2002 and the recently conducted elections. Led by main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition has always taken a swipe at Mugabe’s leadership but this has yielded no fruitful results. Perhaps, after seeing that Mugabe is taking more time to retire than expected and wanted, Tsvangirai has now joined a government of national unity with Mugabe with an aim of restoring the old glory that Zimbabwe used to take delight. However, the problems faced by Zimbabwe still remain large and growing.
THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE
The economic history of Zimbabwe is as old as the country’s history itself. As already mentioned, many whites started to trek to Zimbabwe after discovering that it offered an enormous potential for economic development with her minerals. Zimbabwe is an important producer of coal, gold, nickel and other valuable minerals. Perhaps mention must be made here that Zimbabwe was also used as an administrative capital for the federation. This offered Zimbabwe a huge opportunity to prosper since other countries were being used as labour reserves for her. Since time immemorial, commercial agriculture has been the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy. Furthermore, the agriculture sector is the largest employer in Zimbabwe. The country’s chief agricultural exports include beef, coffee, tea, flower, vegetables, fruits, corn and tobacco. It should also be noted that the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe is amongst Africa’s largest (Gibbon, 1995: 18).
The economic history of Zimbabwe began with the transition to majority rule in 1980 and Britain's ceremonial granting of independence. The new government under Prime Minister Robert Mugabe promoted socialism, partially relying on international aid. The new regime inherited one of the most structurally developed economies and effective state systems in Africa (Hazzlewood, 1967:284). Initially the government followed a corporatist model with government management of the economy maintaining policies first instituted by the previous government to deal with UN-sanctions imposed in 1965. The state already had ownership of utilities and agricultural marketing agencies. The new government added to this by buying out more private companies. The government also extended existing protectionist policies. Throughout the 1980s, the economy performed extremely well which led the Central government expenditure to triple and increase its share from 32.5 percent of GDP in 1979 to 44.6% in 1989 (ibid).
However, this did not last long because the economy nosedived after 1989 due to a number of reasons and this led to the adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP). Generally, these measures were inter alia intended to improve resource allocation, increase efficiency, expand growth potential and enhance resilience shocks (World Bank, 1994:267). However, despite these reforms, the Zimbabwe’s economic blues continued during the 1990s. Perhaps, this was due to (1992, 1993, and 1995) droughts which heavily impacted on agriculture. Other factors such as the 1998 Mugabe's intervention in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa)—purportedly to protect his personal investments—resulted in suspension of international economic aid for Zimbabwe. This suspension of aid and the millions of dollars spent to intervene in the war further weakened Zimbabwe's already troubled economy.
Zimbabwe's economy continued to consistently shrink upon entering the new millennium, in an atmosphere of political turmoil coupled with capital flight and mismanagement. Inflation had spiraled out of control and the underpinnings of the economy in agriculture and industry had been dissipated. Furthermore, the law which was passed in may 2000 to allow the seizure of almost all white-owned commercial farms without compensation further aggravated the situation. To date, the economy has continued to plunge largely due to poor political and economic leadership.
THE ECONOMIC POLICIES ZIMBABWE HAS PURSUED OVER THE YEARS
According to Gibbon (1995:7), “Zimbabwe’s social and economic policies can be grouped into four main phases in post-colonial era.” The first, from independence to 1982 was accompanied by an economic boom and characterized by twin phenomena of the adoption of redistributive policies and a high level of mutual suspicion between government and capital (ibid). A second phase, from 1982 to around 1986, contained two major economic recessions, a check on redistributive policies and continuing cool relations between government and capital. The third, dating from 1986 to 1990 involved the resumption of a degree of economic growth and the downplaying of redistribution. The fourth, that of structural adjustment began in 1990 and has been marked by a very severe drought and economic contraction, an implicit rejection of redistributivism and liberal economic policies. The Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) included among other things, removal of price and wage controls, reduction of government expenditure, a 40 per cent devaluation of Zimbabwean Dollar, removal of subsidies on basic consumer goods, a radical restructuring of various parastatals and other public enterprises (Sichone, 2003:1). The aim of SAPS was to correct unsustainable disequilibrium in the balance of payments.
However, with these economic policies, Zimbabwe is still characterized by a restrictive trade regime, particularly on the capital account (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/55/11978664.pdf). Furthermore, the economy has continued to slump mainly because of Zimbabwe’s unique policies. Firstly, it should be noted that the government in Zimbabwe espoused a socialist ideology, similar to the African socialism which had been adopted by majority governments in most of the continent's ex-colonies. As a result of adopting this ideology, the two major aims of the ZANU-PF's economic policies were growth and redistribution of resources. In attempting to spur growth of the economy, the plan was to redistribute wealth, both public and private, from the minority of whites controlling the economy to majority of blacks that made up the population. In theory the policies made sense. However, these policies had serious implications as several white settlers started to walk out of Zimbabwe and their enterprises collapsed.
ECONOMIC PERFOMANCE FROM 1995 TO PRESENT
This section reviews Zimbabwe’s macro-economic performance and its economic structure since 1995. This essay uses two neighbouring countries, South Africa and Zambia, as comparators of Zimbabwe. Zambia provides a direct comparison while South Africa represents a regional standard that Zimbabwe should aspire to achieve. In addition, Zimbabwe’s economic performance has been compared with other low-income countries in the SADC region.
It is important to note that the economy of Zimbabwe has plummeted over the past years. The crisis has been largely attributed to economic mismanagement, poor governance, and loss of support from the international community, all compounded by periods of drought. The collapse was triggered by the government’s decision in 1997 to ignore fiscal constraints in making large payments to veterans of the Independence struggle. Then, in the wake of political setbacks in 1998, the government announced the seizure of white-owned farms, which exacerbated the instability .Another pivotal event, was the controversial Fast Track Land Reform scheme for involuntary land redistribution in 2000, which led to a precipitous decline in productivity and output in agriculture, formerly the mainstay of the economy.
Using the purchasing power parity (PPP) method of calculating the GDP, Zimbabwe’s per capita income in 2006 was $2, 437—a drop of more than 23 per cent since 1998. Furthermore, the GDP declined by 30% from 1998 through 2003, and fell another 5.2% in 2004 (Townsend and Copson, 2005:1). In an economy characterized by declining per capita income, hyperinflation, high unemployment, shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, it is not a surprise that poverty levels are extremely alarming. For example, the 2003 Zimbabwe’s Poverty Assessment estimated that 72 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. This is 17 per cent point higher than the figure of 1995 which was at 55 per cent. As a point of interest, this was worse than the extremely highest rate of Zambia which was at 68.0 in 2004.
The economic crisis has brought with it severe shortages in food and other necessities. Between 2002 and 2004, an average of 47.0 per cent of the population could not fill their minimum dietary consumption needs. This is due to a combination of an adverse weather conditions, deteriorating irrigation system, and the loss of service sector support in rural areas due to the closure of large-scale commercial farms. According to World Food Programme, more than 4 million Zimbabweans face food shortages today (http:/www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=716).
In summary, the economy of Zimbabwe is in shambles. The harbinger of all the problems has been retrogressive economic and social policies, hyperinflation, and political distress.
ZIMBABWE’S CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
That Zimbabwe is in the middle of large and growing challenges cannot be overemphasized. The challenges are serious and many. However, there is a flicker of hope that sooner or later Zimbabwe will be back to its impressive performance. However, this requires a concerted effort on the part of the Zimbabwean government and the donor community.
Perhaps, one major challenge crippling Zimbabwe is political instability. It does not need deep knowledge to sense the link between political stability and economic development. There can never be development in a country where there is political unrest. Sadly, in Zimbabwe, there has been political instability in the country marked by political violence, arrest of opposition politicians, human rights activists, journalists and university students. Furthermore, the elections that have happened in Zimbabwe in recent years have always been disputed as the opposition parties have claimed that they have been rigged. A case in point being the recently conducted elections where the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to contest arguing that the elections were marred by violence and intimidation (BBC News, 2009).
In summary, there is no democracy in Zimbabwe and this has been evidenced by the muzzling of the press and the media in general, suppression of Non-Governmental Organisations and the arrest of opposition politicians and supporters. For example, the Zimbabwean government passed the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) in 2002 and 2003 respectively, which have been used by ZANU-PF to suppress freedom of speech (Townsend and Copson, 2005:3). AIPPA requires that all media services be licensed by the government, and that all journalists, including foreign correspondents, to be officially accredited while POSA prohibits any “abusive, indecent, obscene, or false statement” about the president, and prohibits false statements prejudicial to the state. An interesting case in point being the arrest of opposition politician Roy Bennet who is also the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the new government of national unity formed by Tsvangirai and Mugabe (BBC News, 2009).
There is also another undemocratic legislation called the Non Governmental Organisation Bill which was passed in July 2004 (Townsend and Copson, 2005:4). The bill prohibits foreign non governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating in Zimbabwe if their principal objectives include issues of governance, which in turn include the promotion and protection of human rights. Domestic NGOs are prohibited from accepting foreign funds for carrying out activities involving issues of governance. All NGOs are required to register with the government, and a council is established with wide powers to investigate and regulate NGOs.
Another major challenge being faced by Zimbabwe is the suspension of foreign developmental aid by the international community. Several international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and major donors such as United States of America and the United Kingdom suspended their aid as a result of poor governance and Zimbabwe’s disrespectful of human rights.
Furthermore, HIV/AIDS is also another serious and growing challenge that has beset Zimbabwe. For example, almost 25 per cent of the Zimbabwean adult population is HIV positive (Townsend and Copson, 2005:3). This has resulted in the reduction of life expectancy as several Zimbabweans have been shoved to the grave. Other challenges as already stated in this essay include macro-economic instability, hyperinflation, shortage of fuel and growing poverty and increased inequality.
However, all is not lost. Despite these challenges, the prospects for an economic recovery seem to be there. The economy has recently stabilized perhaps thanks to the formation of the government of national unity between two political rivals, Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Furthermore, it should also be noted that while several governments have been moving to isolate Zimbabwe, Harare has recently found a new lease of life thanks to the strengthening of diplomatic ties with Mainland China. Additionally, the pursuance of other new economic policies, such as the withdrawal of the worthless Zimbabwean Dollar from circulation early this year, is also breathing a new life into the economy which had battled the world’s record beating inflation (use of foreign currency was also legalized) (BBC News, 2009).
Finally, it should be noted that recently the Zimbabwean economy has been projected to grow by 3.7 per cent this year, according to the IMF in its latest edition of the World Economic Outlook published in September 2009 (BBC News, 2009). The report forecast that growth in the Southern African nation’s GDP would accelerate to 6 per cent in 2010 (ibid). Furthermore, consumer inflation would average 9 per cent this year alone and rise to an average of 12 per cent in 2010. The fund further estimates that the country’s current account deficit which is at 21.4 per cent would narrow to 19.9 per cent come next year (ibid).
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, this essay has analysed the economy of Zimbabwe. It started off by looking at the political and economic history of Zimbabwe and it offered the rationale for the economic policies which were adopted. It further analysed the economic performance from 1995 to the present. This was done by comparing with other countries in the SADC region. Finally, the essay has provided the general challenges and opportunities that Zimbabwe is facing.
REFERENCES
BBC News (2009). South Africa will not Appeal for Mission to Zimbabwe. The Daily Times, Thursday October 22, 2009
BBC News (2009). IMF Projects Zimbabwe Economy’s Growth. The Daily Times, Friday, October 2, 2009.
BBC News (2009). ZIM’s Unity Government Stalls. The Daily Times, Tuesday, October 6, 2009.
Gibbon, P (1995). Structural Adjustment and the Working Poor in Zimbabwe. Nordiska
Afrikainstituet, Uppsala.
Hazzlewood, A (1967). The Formation of Federation and Dissolution in Central Africa.
in African Integration and Disintegration. Case Studies in Economic and Political Union. London: OUP
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/55/11978664.pdf
http:/www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=716
Mandoza, I (1986). Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transition 1980-1986. Dakar: Codesria.
Sichone, O. (2003). Zimbabwe’s Economic Policies 1980-2002. DPMN Bulletin: Volume X, Number 2, April 2003
Townsend, J and Copson, W.R (2005). CRS Report for Congress. Zimbabwe: Current Issues. New York: CRS.
World Book Encyclopedia (2001). Vol 21. Chicago: World Book Inc
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economic performance of Zimbabwe. However, it is important to appreciate the fact that any attempt to grasp the economic performance of Zimbabwe has to be situated and analysed within the overall history of the country’s economy since independence and even beyond. However, for the purposes of this discussion, this essay, among other things, offers a brief political and economic history of Zimbabwe. Furthermore, it outlines the rationale for the economic policies Zimbabwe has pursued over the years and the peculiarity about this country’s economic policies. Additionally, the essay compares Zimbabwe’s economic performance with other few countries in the Southern Africa region. Finally, this essay points out the general challenges and opportunities Zimbabwe is currently facing.
THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE
According to World Book Encyclopedia (2001:596), “Zimbabwe has had a troubled political history.” Zimbabwe, formerly called Southern Rhodesia was the former British colony which became an independent Republic on 18th April 1980 after a prolonged war of liberation. The head of state since independence has been Robert Mugabe, leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party (Sichone, 2003:1). However, the political history of Zimbabwe dates back to the 1400s when there was a branch of the Shona called the Karanga which established the Mwanamutapa Empire which included most land of what is now called Zimbabwe. Since Zimbabwe is endowed with vast amount of minerals such as gold, many Europeans especially the British came to occupy Zimbabwe hence that was the beginning of colonialism. In 1897, the Britain recognized Southern and Northern Rhodesia as separate entities.
In 1953, the Britain set up the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which was later dissolved in 1963 (Hazzlewood, 1967:228). In 1964, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia became independent while Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) did not. As a consequence, a prolonged fighting between black Zimbabweans and white rulers broke up as many black Zimbabweans started clamouring for independence. In 1979, due to outside and internal pressure, the then prime minister of Zimbabwe Ian Smith began to cede some level of authority to the blacks. Finally, the whites succumbed to calls of independence and an election was held in 1979 which resulted in a government with a majority of black leaders and Abel Muzorewa became the first black Prime Minister (WBE, 2001:597).
However, there were some misunderstanding with the way these elections were held and as a result another election was held in 1980 which saw the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) claiming a landslide victory (Mandoza, 1986:84). Since the ZANU-PF accumulated many parliamentary seats, its leader, Robert Mugabe, was automatically elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. And as already stated, Britain granted independence to Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980 and because of this many whites returned home. After five years, another set of elections were also held and Mugabe returned his position. However, in 1987, the office of the Prime Minister was replaced by the office of the president as the highest government post (ibid).
Since 1980, Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe but his reign has been marred by many political bickering, violence and tension coupled with a dwindling economic performance. For example, the opposition parties have always disputed the elections that happen in the Zimbabwe as undemocratic. This has especially been true as evidenced by the disputed elections in March 2002 and the recently conducted elections. Led by main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition has always taken a swipe at Mugabe’s leadership but this has yielded no fruitful results. Perhaps, after seeing that Mugabe is taking more time to retire than expected and wanted, Tsvangirai has now joined a government of national unity with Mugabe with an aim of restoring the old glory that Zimbabwe used to take delight. However, the problems faced by Zimbabwe still remain large and growing.
THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE
The economic history of Zimbabwe is as old as the country’s history itself. As already mentioned, many whites started to trek to Zimbabwe after discovering that it offered an enormous potential for economic development with her minerals. Zimbabwe is an important producer of coal, gold, nickel and other valuable minerals. Perhaps mention must be made here that Zimbabwe was also used as an administrative capital for the federation. This offered Zimbabwe a huge opportunity to prosper since other countries were being used as labour reserves for her. Since time immemorial, commercial agriculture has been the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy. Furthermore, the agriculture sector is the largest employer in Zimbabwe. The country’s chief agricultural exports include beef, coffee, tea, flower, vegetables, fruits, corn and tobacco. It should also be noted that the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe is amongst Africa’s largest (Gibbon, 1995: 18).
The economic history of Zimbabwe began with the transition to majority rule in 1980 and Britain's ceremonial granting of independence. The new government under Prime Minister Robert Mugabe promoted socialism, partially relying on international aid. The new regime inherited one of the most structurally developed economies and effective state systems in Africa (Hazzlewood, 1967:284). Initially the government followed a corporatist model with government management of the economy maintaining policies first instituted by the previous government to deal with UN-sanctions imposed in 1965. The state already had ownership of utilities and agricultural marketing agencies. The new government added to this by buying out more private companies. The government also extended existing protectionist policies. Throughout the 1980s, the economy performed extremely well which led the Central government expenditure to triple and increase its share from 32.5 percent of GDP in 1979 to 44.6% in 1989 (ibid).
However, this did not last long because the economy nosedived after 1989 due to a number of reasons and this led to the adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP). Generally, these measures were inter alia intended to improve resource allocation, increase efficiency, expand growth potential and enhance resilience shocks (World Bank, 1994:267). However, despite these reforms, the Zimbabwe’s economic blues continued during the 1990s. Perhaps, this was due to (1992, 1993, and 1995) droughts which heavily impacted on agriculture. Other factors such as the 1998 Mugabe's intervention in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa)—purportedly to protect his personal investments—resulted in suspension of international economic aid for Zimbabwe. This suspension of aid and the millions of dollars spent to intervene in the war further weakened Zimbabwe's already troubled economy.
Zimbabwe's economy continued to consistently shrink upon entering the new millennium, in an atmosphere of political turmoil coupled with capital flight and mismanagement. Inflation had spiraled out of control and the underpinnings of the economy in agriculture and industry had been dissipated. Furthermore, the law which was passed in may 2000 to allow the seizure of almost all white-owned commercial farms without compensation further aggravated the situation. To date, the economy has continued to plunge largely due to poor political and economic leadership.
THE ECONOMIC POLICIES ZIMBABWE HAS PURSUED OVER THE YEARS
According to Gibbon (1995:7), “Zimbabwe’s social and economic policies can be grouped into four main phases in post-colonial era.” The first, from independence to 1982 was accompanied by an economic boom and characterized by twin phenomena of the adoption of redistributive policies and a high level of mutual suspicion between government and capital (ibid). A second phase, from 1982 to around 1986, contained two major economic recessions, a check on redistributive policies and continuing cool relations between government and capital. The third, dating from 1986 to 1990 involved the resumption of a degree of economic growth and the downplaying of redistribution. The fourth, that of structural adjustment began in 1990 and has been marked by a very severe drought and economic contraction, an implicit rejection of redistributivism and liberal economic policies. The Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) included among other things, removal of price and wage controls, reduction of government expenditure, a 40 per cent devaluation of Zimbabwean Dollar, removal of subsidies on basic consumer goods, a radical restructuring of various parastatals and other public enterprises (Sichone, 2003:1). The aim of SAPS was to correct unsustainable disequilibrium in the balance of payments.
However, with these economic policies, Zimbabwe is still characterized by a restrictive trade regime, particularly on the capital account (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/55/11978664.pdf). Furthermore, the economy has continued to slump mainly because of Zimbabwe’s unique policies. Firstly, it should be noted that the government in Zimbabwe espoused a socialist ideology, similar to the African socialism which had been adopted by majority governments in most of the continent's ex-colonies. As a result of adopting this ideology, the two major aims of the ZANU-PF's economic policies were growth and redistribution of resources. In attempting to spur growth of the economy, the plan was to redistribute wealth, both public and private, from the minority of whites controlling the economy to majority of blacks that made up the population. In theory the policies made sense. However, these policies had serious implications as several white settlers started to walk out of Zimbabwe and their enterprises collapsed.
ECONOMIC PERFOMANCE FROM 1995 TO PRESENT
This section reviews Zimbabwe’s macro-economic performance and its economic structure since 1995. This essay uses two neighbouring countries, South Africa and Zambia, as comparators of Zimbabwe. Zambia provides a direct comparison while South Africa represents a regional standard that Zimbabwe should aspire to achieve. In addition, Zimbabwe’s economic performance has been compared with other low-income countries in the SADC region.
It is important to note that the economy of Zimbabwe has plummeted over the past years. The crisis has been largely attributed to economic mismanagement, poor governance, and loss of support from the international community, all compounded by periods of drought. The collapse was triggered by the government’s decision in 1997 to ignore fiscal constraints in making large payments to veterans of the Independence struggle. Then, in the wake of political setbacks in 1998, the government announced the seizure of white-owned farms, which exacerbated the instability .Another pivotal event, was the controversial Fast Track Land Reform scheme for involuntary land redistribution in 2000, which led to a precipitous decline in productivity and output in agriculture, formerly the mainstay of the economy.
Using the purchasing power parity (PPP) method of calculating the GDP, Zimbabwe’s per capita income in 2006 was $2, 437—a drop of more than 23 per cent since 1998. Furthermore, the GDP declined by 30% from 1998 through 2003, and fell another 5.2% in 2004 (Townsend and Copson, 2005:1). In an economy characterized by declining per capita income, hyperinflation, high unemployment, shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, it is not a surprise that poverty levels are extremely alarming. For example, the 2003 Zimbabwe’s Poverty Assessment estimated that 72 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. This is 17 per cent point higher than the figure of 1995 which was at 55 per cent. As a point of interest, this was worse than the extremely highest rate of Zambia which was at 68.0 in 2004.
The economic crisis has brought with it severe shortages in food and other necessities. Between 2002 and 2004, an average of 47.0 per cent of the population could not fill their minimum dietary consumption needs. This is due to a combination of an adverse weather conditions, deteriorating irrigation system, and the loss of service sector support in rural areas due to the closure of large-scale commercial farms. According to World Food Programme, more than 4 million Zimbabweans face food shortages today (http:/www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=716).
In summary, the economy of Zimbabwe is in shambles. The harbinger of all the problems has been retrogressive economic and social policies, hyperinflation, and political distress.
ZIMBABWE’S CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
That Zimbabwe is in the middle of large and growing challenges cannot be overemphasized. The challenges are serious and many. However, there is a flicker of hope that sooner or later Zimbabwe will be back to its impressive performance. However, this requires a concerted effort on the part of the Zimbabwean government and the donor community.
Perhaps, one major challenge crippling Zimbabwe is political instability. It does not need deep knowledge to sense the link between political stability and economic development. There can never be development in a country where there is political unrest. Sadly, in Zimbabwe, there has been political instability in the country marked by political violence, arrest of opposition politicians, human rights activists, journalists and university students. Furthermore, the elections that have happened in Zimbabwe in recent years have always been disputed as the opposition parties have claimed that they have been rigged. A case in point being the recently conducted elections where the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to contest arguing that the elections were marred by violence and intimidation (BBC News, 2009).
In summary, there is no democracy in Zimbabwe and this has been evidenced by the muzzling of the press and the media in general, suppression of Non-Governmental Organisations and the arrest of opposition politicians and supporters. For example, the Zimbabwean government passed the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) in 2002 and 2003 respectively, which have been used by ZANU-PF to suppress freedom of speech (Townsend and Copson, 2005:3). AIPPA requires that all media services be licensed by the government, and that all journalists, including foreign correspondents, to be officially accredited while POSA prohibits any “abusive, indecent, obscene, or false statement” about the president, and prohibits false statements prejudicial to the state. An interesting case in point being the arrest of opposition politician Roy Bennet who is also the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the new government of national unity formed by Tsvangirai and Mugabe (BBC News, 2009).
There is also another undemocratic legislation called the Non Governmental Organisation Bill which was passed in July 2004 (Townsend and Copson, 2005:4). The bill prohibits foreign non governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating in Zimbabwe if their principal objectives include issues of governance, which in turn include the promotion and protection of human rights. Domestic NGOs are prohibited from accepting foreign funds for carrying out activities involving issues of governance. All NGOs are required to register with the government, and a council is established with wide powers to investigate and regulate NGOs.
Another major challenge being faced by Zimbabwe is the suspension of foreign developmental aid by the international community. Several international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and major donors such as United States of America and the United Kingdom suspended their aid as a result of poor governance and Zimbabwe’s disrespectful of human rights.
Furthermore, HIV/AIDS is also another serious and growing challenge that has beset Zimbabwe. For example, almost 25 per cent of the Zimbabwean adult population is HIV positive (Townsend and Copson, 2005:3). This has resulted in the reduction of life expectancy as several Zimbabweans have been shoved to the grave. Other challenges as already stated in this essay include macro-economic instability, hyperinflation, shortage of fuel and growing poverty and increased inequality.
However, all is not lost. Despite these challenges, the prospects for an economic recovery seem to be there. The economy has recently stabilized perhaps thanks to the formation of the government of national unity between two political rivals, Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Furthermore, it should also be noted that while several governments have been moving to isolate Zimbabwe, Harare has recently found a new lease of life thanks to the strengthening of diplomatic ties with Mainland China. Additionally, the pursuance of other new economic policies, such as the withdrawal of the worthless Zimbabwean Dollar from circulation early this year, is also breathing a new life into the economy which had battled the world’s record beating inflation (use of foreign currency was also legalized) (BBC News, 2009).
Finally, it should be noted that recently the Zimbabwean economy has been projected to grow by 3.7 per cent this year, according to the IMF in its latest edition of the World Economic Outlook published in September 2009 (BBC News, 2009). The report forecast that growth in the Southern African nation’s GDP would accelerate to 6 per cent in 2010 (ibid). Furthermore, consumer inflation would average 9 per cent this year alone and rise to an average of 12 per cent in 2010. The fund further estimates that the country’s current account deficit which is at 21.4 per cent would narrow to 19.9 per cent come next year (ibid).
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, this essay has analysed the economy of Zimbabwe. It started off by looking at the political and economic history of Zimbabwe and it offered the rationale for the economic policies which were adopted. It further analysed the economic performance from 1995 to the present. This was done by comparing with other countries in the SADC region. Finally, the essay has provided the general challenges and opportunities that Zimbabwe is facing.
REFERENCES
BBC News (2009). South Africa will not Appeal for Mission to Zimbabwe. The Daily Times, Thursday October 22, 2009
BBC News (2009). IMF Projects Zimbabwe Economy’s Growth. The Daily Times, Friday, October 2, 2009.
BBC News (2009). ZIM’s Unity Government Stalls. The Daily Times, Tuesday, October 6, 2009.
Gibbon, P (1995). Structural Adjustment and the Working Poor in Zimbabwe. Nordiska
Afrikainstituet, Uppsala.
Hazzlewood, A (1967). The Formation of Federation and Dissolution in Central Africa.
in African Integration and Disintegration. Case Studies in Economic and Political Union. London: OUP
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/55/11978664.pdf
http:/www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=716
Mandoza, I (1986). Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transition 1980-1986. Dakar: Codesria.
Sichone, O. (2003). Zimbabwe’s Economic Policies 1980-2002. DPMN Bulletin: Volume X, Number 2, April 2003
Townsend, J and Copson, W.R (2005). CRS Report for Congress. Zimbabwe: Current Issues. New York: CRS.
World Book Encyclopedia (2001). Vol 21. Chicago: World Book Inc
Regional Integration in Southern Africa
In response to changing global economic and political trends, the worlds regions are moving towards greater cooperation and integration. African countries, and in particular, Southern African countries are no exception. As in the rest of the world, regional integration has over the years been viewed as an indispensable part of development strategy in Southern Africa (Schiff and Winters 2003: xii). As Soka (2008: 56) notes, “regional integration has been considered as a means to achieve sustainable economic growth and development and to overcome the regions structural problems.”
However, as noted by Van Rooyen (1998:125), “a critical question that has for the past years been at the centre of debate is: What is the best approach for regional integration in Southern Africa?” Is it market integration, regional cooperation or development integration? Which one of these can enhance development of the Southern African region as a whole? As the debate for a relevant regional integration approach rages on in the region, many academicians, politicians and writers seem to be vacillating among the three theories. This paper joins this contested debate and it makes the proposition that development integration approach of regional integration is the most appealing and relevant to Southern African region. This is largely because Southern Africa as a region is meeting numerous challenges and in order to overcome them, there has to be an overarching and a comprehensive approach to regional integration not just one that focuses on trade as an end in itself.
In order to dwell further on these deeper kinds of terrain of regional integration, it may be useful to raise a few critical explanations so as to proceed with some clarity and be able to comprehend better the key issues of regional integration. At the outset, it should be noted that there are three approaches to regional integration. These are market integration, regional cooperation and development integration. According to Van Rooyen (1998:128), market integration “involves the lowering and removal of trade barriers between states in a region in order to increase trade between them.” Market integration therefore sees trade as an engine of economic growth and development. Lee (2003) gives the various forms of market integration, which include Free Trade areas (FTAs), customs union, common markets, economic unions and total economic integration.
Regional cooperation, on the other hand, refers to the execution of joint projects between two or more countries. The basic idea of regional cooperation is that cooperation in one sector of the economy will eventually “spur and necessitate” further cooperation, integration and development between the countries in ‘marriage’ (Van Rooyen 1998:129). The third and final approach to regional integration [which this paper subscribes to] is development integration. According to Van Rooyen (1998:129), “development integration is the response to the shortcomings of the market integration approach.” It is based on the understanding that industrialization must be advanced before market integration is considered. Furthermore, it is multi-dimensional in the sense that it deals with all structures that affect development whether political, social, ecological and economical. It comes from this brief background that development integration is the most appealing and relevant to Southern African countries.
Perhaps mention must be made that any ideal approach to regional integration and development must be “flexible, pragmatic, adaptable and inclusive” (ibid: 126). When one looks at the three theories, one can safely argue that it is only development integration, which largely has these attributes. To say the least, neither market integration nor regional cooperation is appealing and relevant to Southern Africa. This, as already stated in this discussion, is mainly because of the fact that the thrust of market integration is on trade. The fact that market integration sees trade as a catalyst that can have a spill over effect to development should be a major cause for concern in Southern Africa. In fact, this assumption, to say the least, is erroneous. Market integration, of course, can spur economic growth, but it is imperative to note that not all development problems, for example, epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, can be solved through trade. This means that market integration is a necessary evil in the SADC region.
Another problem with market integration is that it was primarily developed with and for industrialized economies such as those in the First World. However, almost all Southern African states (excluding South Africa) are in the Third World or are referred to as developing countries. Many, lack industries and a majority, have a historic reliance on exporting primary products (SADC 2000:16). Market integration cannot thus work in a region where the level of industrialization is distinctly low and at different levels. As Van Rooyen (1998:128) observes, “the potential for successful market integration improves once the members are on the same level of industrial development.” This clearly is not the case with Southern African economies. For instance, Soka (2008:56) notes that “the region’s economy is overwhelmingly dominated by South Africa…which apparently produces 80 per cent of the Southern Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
Market integration is also not appealing to Southern African economies because of the fact that the Southern African economy is similarly structured, in that it produces, consume, import and export essentially similar products (Ciliers 1995:13). Therefore, instead of complementing each other, history has it that, Southern African Countries have ended up competing with each other. This has rendered the chances of market integration almost impossible since there is a minimal amount of trade that happens amongst these countries.
The viability of market integration in Southern Africa is also questionable since for market integration to be successfully implemented there has to be a number of prerequisite conditions that have to be taken into consideration. For example, the region has to be politically stable and the security has to be tight. In addition, macro-economic stability has to be in place. However, when one looks at the Southern African region, a majority of these conditions are not in place. If there are there, then they are very patchy. For example, cases of armed robbery activities and other growing insecurities are the order of the day. Malawi and South Africa are classic examples. Other transnational crimes such as car-hijacking, money laundering, drug and human trafficking, small arms and the influx of refugees from other regions are serious challenges that have beset the region (SADC 2000:24). On macroeconomic stability, the situation of many countries in the region is very disheartening. Many countries suffer from macroeconomic instability and their economies are characterized by high budget deficits, high inflation rates, high interest rates and exchange rate instability that have thwarted trade and foreign investment (ibid). Zimbabwe, in particular, is a case in point.
There are also other factors that have compounded the problem of market integration. For example, geographically, six of the countries in the SADC region are landlocked (SADC 2000:35). These are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. As a consequence, economic integration within the region has proven to be difficult since other transport systems such as roads and railway lines are also poor. Further to the above point, the population size of a majority of countries in the region is very small. As a result, the SADC Human Development report of 2000 notes that, “the cost per capita of providing infrastructure individually is high” (ibid). All these challenges point to the fact that market integration is not relevant and appealing to Southern African region.
However, regional cooperation is not appealing and relevant to the region either. Much as regional cooperation is easily achievable, “it has minimal advantages as compared to development and market integration especially when significant disparities exist among participating countries” (Ciliers 1995:14). Furthermore, the fact that regional cooperation overlooks other serious and growing challenges such as the political environment of other countries makes itself to be more irrelevant and less appealing in the SADC region. Many countries in the region have nascent democracies that need to be nurtured and guided. Moreover, if links between democracy and economic development are anything to go by, then regional cooperation should be greatly discouraged since it undervalues the importance of deep integration. Another shortfall of regional cooperation is that it disregards to a greater extent core issues such as trade in regional markets. The fact that this paper is saying market integration is not appealing in the region, does not necessarily and sufficiently mean that issues that deal with trade have to be completely disposed of. All what this paper is saying is that trade issues have to be properly taken into account in the region and this has to be coupled with other development agendas. To undermine the importance of trade in economic growth and development, it to be totally disingenuous. No any region in the world can develop without the influence of trade.
Development integration is therefore needed in Southern African region since it is the only approach that encompasses all issues that the SADC region is currently facing. These issues range from trade, health, and politics to environment. Millions of people in SADC live in conditions of abject poverty as evidenced by low quality houses, high levels of illiteracy, and high incidences of infant, child and maternal mortality rates (SADC 1998: xiii). The HIV prevalence rates in the region are extremely alarming and many people are dying from the AIDS scourge. For example, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia have an average HIV prevalence rate of 24.8 per cent (UNDP 2008:276). It is not only HIV/AIDS that is ravaging many lives, some curable diseases such Tuberculosis and Malaria continue to blight the lives of many people in the region. Furthermore, the Southern African region is characterized by high levels of unemployment (ibid). To clinch it all, the Southern African region is comparatively underdeveloped and is meeting many long and growing challenges.
What is thus needed is an approach that recognizes these challenges and addresses in a pragmatic manner by fighting these challenges on all fronts not by only looking at trade of which has proven to be difficult in the region. Since development integration, theory is human development oriented, then it augurs well for the development of the SADC region. The southern African region should not follow what the industrialized economies are doing in their regional integration efforts by liberalizing their trade anyhow. This can further marginalize the region’s weaker economies. As Van Rooyen (1998:131) succinctly puts it, “the Southern African region should approach regional integration with realism and caution.” This means it should take into consideration the social, political, ecological, and economic realities of the region and focus much on human development not trade per se.
In conclusion, this paper has assessed the three theories of regional integration on their relevance and appeal to the Southern African region. These theories are market integration, regional cooperation and development integration. On the whole, the main message that emerges from this discussion is that development integration approach is relevant and most appealing to Southern Africa. This is so because it addresses the contemporary challenges that the Southern African region is facing and that it is comprehensive.
REFERENCES
Ciliers, J (1995). The Evolving Security Architecture of Southern Africa. Africa Insight.
Vol. 26. No. 1
Lee, M (2003). The Political Economy of Regionalism in Southern Africa. UCT Press
SADC (1998). SADC Human Development Report: Governance and Human
Development in Southern Africa. Harare: SAPES
SADC (2000). SADC Human Development Report. Challenges and Opportunities for
Regional Integration. Harare: SAPES
Schiff, M and Winters, A (2003). Regional Integration and Development. Oxford: OUP
Soka, M (2008). Building Regional Integration in Southern Africa: South African
Customs Union as a Driving Force in South African Journal of International
Affairs. Vol. 15(1). SAIIA
UNDP (2008). Human Development Report 2007/08. Fighting Climate Change: Human
Solidarity in a Divided World. New York: UNDP
Van Rooyen, C (1998). Regional Integration as a Development Strategy: The Case of
SADC. Africa Insight. Vol. 28. No 3/4
However, as noted by Van Rooyen (1998:125), “a critical question that has for the past years been at the centre of debate is: What is the best approach for regional integration in Southern Africa?” Is it market integration, regional cooperation or development integration? Which one of these can enhance development of the Southern African region as a whole? As the debate for a relevant regional integration approach rages on in the region, many academicians, politicians and writers seem to be vacillating among the three theories. This paper joins this contested debate and it makes the proposition that development integration approach of regional integration is the most appealing and relevant to Southern African region. This is largely because Southern Africa as a region is meeting numerous challenges and in order to overcome them, there has to be an overarching and a comprehensive approach to regional integration not just one that focuses on trade as an end in itself.
In order to dwell further on these deeper kinds of terrain of regional integration, it may be useful to raise a few critical explanations so as to proceed with some clarity and be able to comprehend better the key issues of regional integration. At the outset, it should be noted that there are three approaches to regional integration. These are market integration, regional cooperation and development integration. According to Van Rooyen (1998:128), market integration “involves the lowering and removal of trade barriers between states in a region in order to increase trade between them.” Market integration therefore sees trade as an engine of economic growth and development. Lee (2003) gives the various forms of market integration, which include Free Trade areas (FTAs), customs union, common markets, economic unions and total economic integration.
Regional cooperation, on the other hand, refers to the execution of joint projects between two or more countries. The basic idea of regional cooperation is that cooperation in one sector of the economy will eventually “spur and necessitate” further cooperation, integration and development between the countries in ‘marriage’ (Van Rooyen 1998:129). The third and final approach to regional integration [which this paper subscribes to] is development integration. According to Van Rooyen (1998:129), “development integration is the response to the shortcomings of the market integration approach.” It is based on the understanding that industrialization must be advanced before market integration is considered. Furthermore, it is multi-dimensional in the sense that it deals with all structures that affect development whether political, social, ecological and economical. It comes from this brief background that development integration is the most appealing and relevant to Southern African countries.
Perhaps mention must be made that any ideal approach to regional integration and development must be “flexible, pragmatic, adaptable and inclusive” (ibid: 126). When one looks at the three theories, one can safely argue that it is only development integration, which largely has these attributes. To say the least, neither market integration nor regional cooperation is appealing and relevant to Southern Africa. This, as already stated in this discussion, is mainly because of the fact that the thrust of market integration is on trade. The fact that market integration sees trade as a catalyst that can have a spill over effect to development should be a major cause for concern in Southern Africa. In fact, this assumption, to say the least, is erroneous. Market integration, of course, can spur economic growth, but it is imperative to note that not all development problems, for example, epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, can be solved through trade. This means that market integration is a necessary evil in the SADC region.
Another problem with market integration is that it was primarily developed with and for industrialized economies such as those in the First World. However, almost all Southern African states (excluding South Africa) are in the Third World or are referred to as developing countries. Many, lack industries and a majority, have a historic reliance on exporting primary products (SADC 2000:16). Market integration cannot thus work in a region where the level of industrialization is distinctly low and at different levels. As Van Rooyen (1998:128) observes, “the potential for successful market integration improves once the members are on the same level of industrial development.” This clearly is not the case with Southern African economies. For instance, Soka (2008:56) notes that “the region’s economy is overwhelmingly dominated by South Africa…which apparently produces 80 per cent of the Southern Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
Market integration is also not appealing to Southern African economies because of the fact that the Southern African economy is similarly structured, in that it produces, consume, import and export essentially similar products (Ciliers 1995:13). Therefore, instead of complementing each other, history has it that, Southern African Countries have ended up competing with each other. This has rendered the chances of market integration almost impossible since there is a minimal amount of trade that happens amongst these countries.
The viability of market integration in Southern Africa is also questionable since for market integration to be successfully implemented there has to be a number of prerequisite conditions that have to be taken into consideration. For example, the region has to be politically stable and the security has to be tight. In addition, macro-economic stability has to be in place. However, when one looks at the Southern African region, a majority of these conditions are not in place. If there are there, then they are very patchy. For example, cases of armed robbery activities and other growing insecurities are the order of the day. Malawi and South Africa are classic examples. Other transnational crimes such as car-hijacking, money laundering, drug and human trafficking, small arms and the influx of refugees from other regions are serious challenges that have beset the region (SADC 2000:24). On macroeconomic stability, the situation of many countries in the region is very disheartening. Many countries suffer from macroeconomic instability and their economies are characterized by high budget deficits, high inflation rates, high interest rates and exchange rate instability that have thwarted trade and foreign investment (ibid). Zimbabwe, in particular, is a case in point.
There are also other factors that have compounded the problem of market integration. For example, geographically, six of the countries in the SADC region are landlocked (SADC 2000:35). These are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. As a consequence, economic integration within the region has proven to be difficult since other transport systems such as roads and railway lines are also poor. Further to the above point, the population size of a majority of countries in the region is very small. As a result, the SADC Human Development report of 2000 notes that, “the cost per capita of providing infrastructure individually is high” (ibid). All these challenges point to the fact that market integration is not relevant and appealing to Southern African region.
However, regional cooperation is not appealing and relevant to the region either. Much as regional cooperation is easily achievable, “it has minimal advantages as compared to development and market integration especially when significant disparities exist among participating countries” (Ciliers 1995:14). Furthermore, the fact that regional cooperation overlooks other serious and growing challenges such as the political environment of other countries makes itself to be more irrelevant and less appealing in the SADC region. Many countries in the region have nascent democracies that need to be nurtured and guided. Moreover, if links between democracy and economic development are anything to go by, then regional cooperation should be greatly discouraged since it undervalues the importance of deep integration. Another shortfall of regional cooperation is that it disregards to a greater extent core issues such as trade in regional markets. The fact that this paper is saying market integration is not appealing in the region, does not necessarily and sufficiently mean that issues that deal with trade have to be completely disposed of. All what this paper is saying is that trade issues have to be properly taken into account in the region and this has to be coupled with other development agendas. To undermine the importance of trade in economic growth and development, it to be totally disingenuous. No any region in the world can develop without the influence of trade.
Development integration is therefore needed in Southern African region since it is the only approach that encompasses all issues that the SADC region is currently facing. These issues range from trade, health, and politics to environment. Millions of people in SADC live in conditions of abject poverty as evidenced by low quality houses, high levels of illiteracy, and high incidences of infant, child and maternal mortality rates (SADC 1998: xiii). The HIV prevalence rates in the region are extremely alarming and many people are dying from the AIDS scourge. For example, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia have an average HIV prevalence rate of 24.8 per cent (UNDP 2008:276). It is not only HIV/AIDS that is ravaging many lives, some curable diseases such Tuberculosis and Malaria continue to blight the lives of many people in the region. Furthermore, the Southern African region is characterized by high levels of unemployment (ibid). To clinch it all, the Southern African region is comparatively underdeveloped and is meeting many long and growing challenges.
What is thus needed is an approach that recognizes these challenges and addresses in a pragmatic manner by fighting these challenges on all fronts not by only looking at trade of which has proven to be difficult in the region. Since development integration, theory is human development oriented, then it augurs well for the development of the SADC region. The southern African region should not follow what the industrialized economies are doing in their regional integration efforts by liberalizing their trade anyhow. This can further marginalize the region’s weaker economies. As Van Rooyen (1998:131) succinctly puts it, “the Southern African region should approach regional integration with realism and caution.” This means it should take into consideration the social, political, ecological, and economic realities of the region and focus much on human development not trade per se.
In conclusion, this paper has assessed the three theories of regional integration on their relevance and appeal to the Southern African region. These theories are market integration, regional cooperation and development integration. On the whole, the main message that emerges from this discussion is that development integration approach is relevant and most appealing to Southern Africa. This is so because it addresses the contemporary challenges that the Southern African region is facing and that it is comprehensive.
REFERENCES
Ciliers, J (1995). The Evolving Security Architecture of Southern Africa. Africa Insight.
Vol. 26. No. 1
Lee, M (2003). The Political Economy of Regionalism in Southern Africa. UCT Press
SADC (1998). SADC Human Development Report: Governance and Human
Development in Southern Africa. Harare: SAPES
SADC (2000). SADC Human Development Report. Challenges and Opportunities for
Regional Integration. Harare: SAPES
Schiff, M and Winters, A (2003). Regional Integration and Development. Oxford: OUP
Soka, M (2008). Building Regional Integration in Southern Africa: South African
Customs Union as a Driving Force in South African Journal of International
Affairs. Vol. 15(1). SAIIA
UNDP (2008). Human Development Report 2007/08. Fighting Climate Change: Human
Solidarity in a Divided World. New York: UNDP
Van Rooyen, C (1998). Regional Integration as a Development Strategy: The Case of
SADC. Africa Insight. Vol. 28. No 3/4
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Democracy without Democrats
In 1993, many well-meaning Malawians got blanketed with euphoria and excitement when the winds of political change swept across the country. Tears of joy cascaded down the cheeks of many Malawians as the results of the historic referendum were being announced. With a conviction, Malawians voted for democracy.
Surprisingly, 15 years down the line, it appears some politicians, political parties, including various supporters, still find it hard to completely orient themselves with the tenets of democracy. On the lips of many Malawians, the word democracy exists, but our conduct suggests otherwise.
True, four democratic elections have now been conducted in Malawi and various political parties have been formed. On a broader picture, this is sweet news and encouraging too.
But, if one digs deep to explore on intra-party democracy, one may find out that Malawian political parties are devoid of democracy. And the question begged is: are we really democratic?
A closer look at Malawian political parties, points to large cracks of democracy in Malawi. For example, it is said that democracy tolerates dissent, criticisms and advice. But why do many Malawian politicians struggle to come to terms with this basic principle of democracy?
When Sam Mpasu prophesied doom and offered a word of advice to the United Democratic Front (UDF) party in the run up to the 2009 elections, people in UDF got so infuriated with his remarks that they dismissed him from the position of spokesperson and constructively expelled him from the party. To them, Mpasu’s words of wisdom were seen as rebelling against the chairman of UDF, Dr Bakili Muluzi, who was at that time bent on making his comeback to the political fore.
Come 2009, UDF found itself in the thick of things when the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) barred Muluzi from contesting as UDF’s presidential torchbearer. Result? UDF did not field any presidential candidate in the elections; instead, it made a marriage of convenience with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to support John Tembo in the elections. Sadly, the alliance saw red as the Democratic Progressive Party claimed a landslide victory. As Mpasu prophesied, UDF now is a party which is heading towards the evening of its existence. Pity!
Just recently, similar cases have reared their ugly faces in the country’s main political parties---the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
In MCP, after one brave Ishmael Chafukira lashed out at the leadership of the MCP czar John Tembo in the aftermath of the general elections, he catapulted himself into a legal and political tussle with his party and again he was axed as MCP spokesperson. Very unfortunate! Was Chafukira in the wrong to call for democratic leadership in MCP?
One would ask this question. Why then do Malawian politicians wallow in the veneer of the democratic perfume? Another one would also ask.
Equally deplorable is the recent expulsion from the DPP of the Director of Political affairs, Harry Mkandawire, for his outbursts at the president. If truth be told, this has only bespoken that the DPP too, is neither democratic nor progressive.
It appears therefore that in Malawi, our democracy is struggling to shake off the politics of praise-singing, hero-worshiping and boot-licking to the extent that politicians do not want to accept criticisms and dissenting views.
Undoubtedly, this is why our democracy will always be called into question. Surely, it sounds mockery to hear politicians waxing lyrical about democracy, but surprisingly fail to be in tune with some simple democratic principles.
I think it is high time that politicians tried to practice mature democracy. As Martin Luther King Jnr succinctly put it, “now is the time to make true the promise of democracy.”
The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College
Surprisingly, 15 years down the line, it appears some politicians, political parties, including various supporters, still find it hard to completely orient themselves with the tenets of democracy. On the lips of many Malawians, the word democracy exists, but our conduct suggests otherwise.
True, four democratic elections have now been conducted in Malawi and various political parties have been formed. On a broader picture, this is sweet news and encouraging too.
But, if one digs deep to explore on intra-party democracy, one may find out that Malawian political parties are devoid of democracy. And the question begged is: are we really democratic?
A closer look at Malawian political parties, points to large cracks of democracy in Malawi. For example, it is said that democracy tolerates dissent, criticisms and advice. But why do many Malawian politicians struggle to come to terms with this basic principle of democracy?
When Sam Mpasu prophesied doom and offered a word of advice to the United Democratic Front (UDF) party in the run up to the 2009 elections, people in UDF got so infuriated with his remarks that they dismissed him from the position of spokesperson and constructively expelled him from the party. To them, Mpasu’s words of wisdom were seen as rebelling against the chairman of UDF, Dr Bakili Muluzi, who was at that time bent on making his comeback to the political fore.
Come 2009, UDF found itself in the thick of things when the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) barred Muluzi from contesting as UDF’s presidential torchbearer. Result? UDF did not field any presidential candidate in the elections; instead, it made a marriage of convenience with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to support John Tembo in the elections. Sadly, the alliance saw red as the Democratic Progressive Party claimed a landslide victory. As Mpasu prophesied, UDF now is a party which is heading towards the evening of its existence. Pity!
Just recently, similar cases have reared their ugly faces in the country’s main political parties---the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
In MCP, after one brave Ishmael Chafukira lashed out at the leadership of the MCP czar John Tembo in the aftermath of the general elections, he catapulted himself into a legal and political tussle with his party and again he was axed as MCP spokesperson. Very unfortunate! Was Chafukira in the wrong to call for democratic leadership in MCP?
One would ask this question. Why then do Malawian politicians wallow in the veneer of the democratic perfume? Another one would also ask.
Equally deplorable is the recent expulsion from the DPP of the Director of Political affairs, Harry Mkandawire, for his outbursts at the president. If truth be told, this has only bespoken that the DPP too, is neither democratic nor progressive.
It appears therefore that in Malawi, our democracy is struggling to shake off the politics of praise-singing, hero-worshiping and boot-licking to the extent that politicians do not want to accept criticisms and dissenting views.
Undoubtedly, this is why our democracy will always be called into question. Surely, it sounds mockery to hear politicians waxing lyrical about democracy, but surprisingly fail to be in tune with some simple democratic principles.
I think it is high time that politicians tried to practice mature democracy. As Martin Luther King Jnr succinctly put it, “now is the time to make true the promise of democracy.”
The author is a Media for Development student at Chancellor College
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