Zimbabwe at the time of renewal

Smiling in front of corn silos, Emmerson Mnangagwa appears in all Chitungwiza. The current president, successor in November 2017 of Robert Mugabe, assures that he wants "to remake of Zimbabwe an attic" according to its billboards. In this popular city with brick houses, which adjoins the capital Harare, residents would like to believe the candidate of the Zanu-PF party, that of Mugabe. They would also like to turn the page of the former president, who held the reins of the country from 1980 to 2017.

"Robert Mugabe thought that the country belonged to him. He wanted to place his wife in the presidency. It was too much. We are peaceful, but with the army we kicked him out. Given his age, he must now be left alone " Arnold in the middle of a game of billiards in a pub. Even helped by the beer, this nurse, who follows hundreds of HIV-positive patients on triple therapy in the neighborhood clinic, will not say for whom he will vote on Monday. He has the choice between Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa, the principal of his 22 competitors. He who, by his statements, weighs in recent days suspicions of fraud on a ballot he denounces as "biased" .

Arnold summarizes the equation to come: "If the president wins, there is a risk that foreign money will not come back; if Chamisa wins, we do not know what the army will do … " Zimbabweans still mistrust Andrew Shamu analysis of the NGO World Vision. "Months ago, I would have served you a formatted speech. The repressive system prevented speaking freely. Today, hope is enormous. The people will vote and all we want is that this election goes well. "

Galloping Inflation and Exclusion from the International Scene

A slalom cyclist enters the fruit and vegetable stalls of Chitungwiza. By loudspeaker, he proposes to buy back notes that are no longer in circulation. At the price of paper. Zimbabwe has run out of money since rampant inflation a decade ago. Exchanges are by credit card or transfer between mobile phone accounts for businesses that do not have a terminal. A soda, two tomatoes, a skewer of grilled meat are bought electronically. Any cash payment – exclusively in small denominations of dollars – entitles the holder to a discount of at least 20%.

Zimbabwe's economy in figures

"The election will break our isolation", ] hopes Andrew Shamu. Zimbabwe has been ostracized from the West, excluded from the Commonwealth since President Mugabe embarked on his agrarian reform, scouring white farmers without financial compensation.

Zimbabwe rules out rendering confiscated lands to white farmers [19659002ThelandwasdistributedtopartymembersrelativesofpowerfriendsoffriendsBenPurcelloneoftheexpelledwhitefarmersleadstheCommercialFarmers'Union(CFU)whichnowhasonly300membersTheyweretentimesmorethantheyear2000ThesixtydistinguishedthisBritishoriginexplainsthatits1300hectaresoftobaccocornandpasturehavebeenoccupiedsince2005 "Every Friday, starting in 1997, the newspapers published a list of farms to nationalize, he explains, a glimmer of dread always in the eye. The owners have filed appeals. Then, in 2005, the power decided that any farm mentioned in the newspaper would be requisitioned automatically.

A destroyed agricultural wealth

The following is a case in rule of the tool which made the wealth of the country in full development. Those who refused to leave were intimidated. Some expelled have resumed operations in Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, Mozambique, South Africa. Ben's brothers and sisters live in Australia, Canada, the United States, and South Africa.

The new occupants did not gain comfort, nor did they receive from the state the title deeds that would have allowed to take out bank loans to invest. The tractors, the pumps of the water reservoirs were sold. Zimbabwe has become an importer of just about anything that South Africa can buy.

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In the face of disaster, Zimbabweans proposed their skills to the South African economy or any other English language. "We had only two doctoral students in our scientific field in 2005. The others were gone. Fortunately, a program with the French CIRAD allowed us to restart research projects " explains Eddie Mwenje, vice-rector of the University of Bindura.

A new generation of entrepreneurs

The redistribution of However, land has also created a new generation of entrepreneurs, like Phillip Sewera, current president of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Federation. His father, a banker, benefited from this redistribution. "He received 300 hectares, explains Phillip Sewera, from the club of which he is a member in Harare. So, I left my job as a product manager in Johannesburg. I started breeding and I set up two butcher shops in Harare. We also do tobacco with a Dutch partner. And we pay the retirement home in New Zealand of the former owner of this farm … "

Like him, everyone in the country is willing to write a new story. Nurse Arnold summarizes: "We have skills, but we need whites. They have international contacts that will allow access to markets, including loans.

The need for a clear status of land ownership

Matthieu Breusse illustrates the interest of the international community in this country, which has been the third largest tobacco exporter in the world. Six months ago, this French grain merchant of the Cher decided, with his brother, to accept the offer of a US pension fund. "We evaluate farm by farm what should be invested to make them leave. The investments are important, but the people here are brave and the infrastructure, for example water reservoirs, are already there, even if they need to be restarted. A European diplomat insists on the assets of this economy "whose image has been damaged, but where the competences of a director of central administration are comparable to those in Europe" . [19659002] Present at the last Davos Forum, the current president knows what a rhetoric to hold the favor of the markets. It will take more to secure investors. Compensation of expelled farmers, a clear status of land ownership …, a "favorable environment" to which Charles Taffs, an agricultural consultant, aspires.

"As a Zimbabwean of European origin, I am considered "non-native" and do not have the same access to land as another " he says. Distrustful of institutional backers who would consider Zimbabwe as an undeveloped African country, he recalls: "There is a colossal intellectual memory, a good education and infrastructure well ahead …"

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► Six key dates in the history of Zimbabwe

1965. Ian Smith breaks with Britain and proclaims the independence of Rhodesia to prevent the rise of the black majority

1980. Robert Mugabe becomes prime minister of Zimbabwe after seven years of civil war, then president in 1987.

2000. More than 4,000 white farmers are evicted from their land, given to veterans of the American Revolution.

2008. Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition gains control of Parliament. After a wave of repression, Robert Mugabe remains president.

2009. Collapse of the national currency, galloping inflation and adoption of the dollar

2017. Military coup by the dismissal of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mugabe resigns at age 94. Mnangagwa, 75, replaces him

Pierre Tick