A guard in front of a diamond processing plant in the Marange area, in East of Zimbabwe, December 14, 2011 / AFP
"These elections? Let's finish it as soon as possible …" Exhausted by the crisis years of the Robert Mugabe era, Sifelani Jabangwe hopes that Zimbabwe will vote calmly on July 30 to be able to get down to the basics: the revival of its economy.
"We want free elections, honest, credible and recognized as such by the rest of the world," says the industrialist , "we have lost too much time with politics, it is more than time to get the economy running again."
For Sifelani Jabangwe like many other patrons of the country, time is running out.
tarpaulin and plastic glove manufacturing company, James North Zimbabwe, is one of the last are still active in Southerton, the industrial area of the capital Harare that the recession has turned into a desert.
In the early 2000s, Robert Mugabe ordered the maneu military eviction of white farmers who still held most of the land.
Its reform destroyed the breadbasket of southern Africa, ruined the confidence of foreign investors and precipitated the collapse of the entire economy, which still has not recovered from it. twenty years later.
Mass unemployment, hyperinflation, capital flight, widespread poverty and the collapse of public services, especially health, have become the norm.
Zimbabwean farmer Rob Smart inspects the irrigation pipes in his potato field at Head lands, east of Harare, on February 1, 2018 in Zimbabwe / AFP
Shocked by this shock, Mr. Jabangwe then reduced its workforce from 400 to 150 employees and refocused its activity on export products. destination of Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya and Rwanda in particular.
– 'Economic Fouls' –
The winner of the elections – which should be no surprise the current President Emmerson Mnangagwa who succeeded Robert Mugabe in November – he hopes a restart of the activity.
"When the whole economy works and everyone has the means to buy what he wants, we all benefit," said Mr. Jabangwe, also president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, "the normalization of our relations with the rest of the world is vital."
The sanctions imposed by the West to punish the repression of the former regime have finally ruined the country. [19659017] A farmer plowing his fields on a farm whose owner was driven out under the agrarian reform on 27 November 2017 in Beatrice, Zimbabwe / AFP ” class=”img-responsive”/>
A farmer plowing his fields on a farm whose owner was driven out under the agrarian reform, November 27, 2017 in Beatrice, Zimbabwe / AFP
"We have been in turmoil for years because of our own economic mistakes," said Shingi Munyeza, who runs the South African Mugg & Bean coffee chain in his country.
"The upcoming elections are a golden opportunity for our economy," he estimates, "72.5% of Zimbabweans are living below the poverty line today (…) the challenge of getting them out of this dramatic situation. "
" I hope we are done with this political class that maintains its domination at the expense of the economy and the rights of citizens, "says the entrepreneur," he said. we need visionary, creative and competent leaders. "
Ever since he took over the reins of the country, Mr. Mnangagwa, 75, has been trying to convince foreign companies to return.
During his election campaign, the president even promised to bring Zimbabwe in the category of middle-income countries
– 'Hostile climate' –
Its main rival, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Nelson Chamisa, 40, is not left behind . In the event of a victory, he said, he is making every effort to multiply the country's GDP by more than five in ten years to reach the $ 100 billion annual mark.
These commitments, however, puzzled analysts , who stress the enormity of the challenges ahead.
"It will take a lot of investment to revive the economy and for that, we must change the business climate that remains very hostile for the time being", economist John Robertson points out the legislative framework and the corruption.
"It will also be necessary to return our farmers," he adds, "for now their title deeds are not guaranteed and they they need it to get money from the banks. "
Despite all these obstacles, Abel Kapodogo wants to believe it. Unemployed for seven years, this sociology graduate survives selling fruit in the center of Harare.
"In 2013, the ruling party (Zanu-PF) promised us to create 2 million jobs", he recalls, "I was expecting to have one but I did not see anything, the government let me down and it hurt a lot."
But the thirty is sure, this election is going
"This is a unique chance for young people who have been deceived by the party in power," he wants to believe, "if Nelson Chamisa is elected, it will attract investors (…) and I want to believe that, this time, I will find a job. "
