When Chinese President Xi Jinping met President Mnangagwa at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 3 April 2018, he said something that still echoes in my mind: “No matter how the international situation changes and to what stage China develops, China will, as always, stand with all developing countries, including African countries, and be a sincere friend and a reliable partner of Africa.” Before embarking on this historic trip to China, President Mnangagwa was quoted as aaying: “We must have deeper economic relations with China. We know the road that we need to follow to grow our economy.”
Indeed, China has since the days of the liberation struggle shown that it is an all-weather friend to Zimbabwe; and as Zimbabwe continues on its unprecedented and unstoppable economic growth, the road to follow is obvious. China managed to turn its economic fortunes within a few years and so when President Mnangagwa added in 2018 that: “The issue is not only about attracting capital into Zimbabwe. It’s an issue of leapfrogging after 18 years of isolation so that we catch up with the rest of the developing countries,” he knew what he was talking about. When you learn from the best, you know nothing is impossible.
I have had the rare opportunity to criss-cross the country over the past eight months on assignment for Brick by Brick magazine. What I have witnessed boggles the mind, and please, dear reader, pardon my chest beating when I boldly declare that Zimbabwe will soon be the China of Africa. Of course, quite a number of people, especially those who have taken time to appreciate developments in the country with a sober mind, are already talking about the “Chinese miracle in Zimbabwe”.
A case in point is the Ghanaian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Alexander Grant Ntrakwa, who remarked recently that “Zimbabwe will soon become the China of Africa, doing things by itself”.
Foreigners are already seeing the Chinese miracle unfolding in Zimbabwe and yet there are some among us who are still buried in the past. They say charity begins at home. So we, as Zimbabweans, must bring ourselves to the present by appreciating the enormous strides the country is making towards achieving Vision 2030, taking our leaf from the Chinese miracle.
But what exactly did China do for people to talk about the “Chinese miracle in Zimbabwe”?
In 1978, China was among the poorest countries in the world, but thanks to its robust economic reforms, it pulled itself out of poverty and is now ranked among the world’s economic powerhouses. Please mark the words pulled itself out of poverty. Doesn’t this remind you of the nyika inovakwa nevene vayo mantra?
In an article titled Why is China Growing so Fast?, written for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June 1997, Zuliu Hu and Mohsin S. Khan observed: “In an effort to awaken a dormant economic giant, it (China) encouraged the formation of rural enterprises and private businesses . . . For countries with a large segment of the population underemployment in agriculture, the Chinese example may be particularly instructive. By encouraging the growth of rural enterprises and not focusing exclusively on the urban industrial sector, China has successfully moved millions of workers off farms and into factories without creating an urban crisis.”
No need to re-invent the wheel
There is really no need for Zimbabwe to re-invent the wheel. The Chinese template works perfectly well in Zimbabwe. Fortunately, President Mnangagwa has already set the ball rolling by calling for the industrialisation of Zimbabwe’s rural areas through value addition and beneficiation. The objective of the rural industrialisation drive, which will see industrial activities being established in the rural areas, is to stem rural-urban migration.
The Second Republic has already laid the ground for the transformation of the rural areas through, among other things, establishing tertiary institutions, including vocational training centres in rural areas and intensifying the rural electrification programme.
Officiating at the commissioning a US$20 million edible oil refinery plant in Mahusekwa, Mashonaland East, in June last year, President Mnangagwa said: “My government will continue to pursue the Ease of Doing Business reforms to attract more investments, focusing on the rural areas, in line with our developmental thrust of leaving no one and no place behind.”
The US$20 million is just one of the growing number of projects being championed by the Second Republic for the benefit of previously marginalised rural communities through employment creation, among other benefits.
Speeding up rural industrialisation
To speed up rural industrialisation, government has since launched the Rural Development 8.0 Strategy targeting farming as the ideal vehicle for the rural industrialisation drive. The strategy is anchored by various empowerment programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, the Presidential Climate-Proofed Input Scheme, the Presidential Climate-Proofed Cotton Scheme, the Presidential Rural Development Programme, the Presidential Tick Grease Scheme and the Presidential Goat Scheme, among others.
In May 2021, Ali Haider Saleem wrote an article titled How China Became an Economic Superpower which is a must read for the ‘”doubting Thomases” who choose to turn a blind eye to what is happening on the ground. Saleem wrote: “The rate of China’s industrial growth is unmatched in history. Within a few decades after initiating widespread economic reforms, China emerged as an economic superpower.
“The largely agrarian economy transitioned into an advanced economy with the expansion of its manufacturing and services sector . . . In the earlier stages of the reform era, the Chinese economy experienced consumption-led growth. The agricultural reforms raised the incomes and savings of millions of Chinese involved in the sector, generating demand for goods, which led to the expansion of Town and Village Enterprises (TVEs).”
One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see that Zimbabwe is definitely on the right track!
Something to smile for Prof. Murwira
China did not become an economic powerhouse by focusing only on rural industrialisation. It did something that Zimbabwe is already doing. In a paper titled Lessons for Africa from China’s Growth that he presented at Tsinghua University on 13 January 2015, the World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region, Makhtar Diop, said something that should come as sweet music to the ears of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Amon Murwira.
Diop wrote: “Beyond reforms that increased productivity, China has nurtured a population with high levels of human capital. Skilled graduates are crucial for Africa to move up the value chain and achieve critical productivity increases. Here – again – there is room to learn from China, where more than 40% of all tertiary degrees are awarded in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the so-called STEM fields) . . . Africa needs scientists and engineers to improve the productivity of its crops and to build the infrastructure required by Africa’s booming cities.”
Dear readers, mark Diop’s words. He said: Africa needs scientists and engineers to improve the productivity of its crops and to build the infrastructure required by Africa’s booming cities. He didn’t say Africa needs scientists and engineers who were only interested in vying for jobs after university.
Now, let’s come back to Zimbabwe. Seeing the need to produce scientists and engineers who can improve the productivity of the country’s crops and build the required infrastructure, government introduced STEM in 2016 to promote the uptake in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in schools. While the programme was launched in 2016, it gathered momentum under the Second Republic which went on to create a conducive environment for universities to establish innovation hubs.
Turning universities into small industries
Just pay a visit to the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), the Midlands State University (MSU), the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), Harare Institute of Technology (HIT), the Zimbabwe Defence University (ZDU) and the Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) and you will realise that gone are the days when these institutions churned out half-baked graduates whose only ambition was to become employees, and not employers. In fact, all Zimbabwe’s State universities are fast becoming engines for economic growth.
To catch them young, the government introduced the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity (CALA), a student assessment system implemented with effect from the final term of 2021. Gone are the days when cramming was more important than understanding. CALA requires learners not only to perform, but to demonstrate genuine knowledge, understanding and proficiency in all their subjects.
As expected, some parents are up in arms against CALA for taking them back to the classroom since they are required to assist their children with their homework assignments. The good thing is that, in the long run, Zimbabwe will reap the rewards. And so, just like China, Zimbabwe is nurturing a population with high levels of human capital.
The Zimbabwe-China story does not end there. Hu and Khan also explained that the IMF, which was initially against some of China’s economic reforms, ultimately ate humble pie by sending a research team to Beijing to study the Chinese miracle.
Stunned by what they saw, the IMF team concluded: “Although capital accumulation – the growth in the country’s stock of assets, such as new factories, manufacturing machinery, and communications systems – was important, as were the number of Chinese workers, a sharp, sustained increase in productivity (that is increased worker efficiency) was the driving force behind the economic boom.”
The secret behind increased worker efficiency
In 2021, the government introduced performance-based contracts (PBCs) for Cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries, chief executive officers for parastatals, local authorities, vice chancellors of State universities and other senior government officials. The main objective of the PBCs is to ensure that government systems, processes and personnel are “fit for purpose”, to quote President Mnangagwa’s own words. In short, this means not only increasing productivity but even fine-tuning efficiencies in government.
In addition, the government has taken the bold decision to reform, commercialise some of the State Enterprises and Parastatals which for years were an albatross around the government’s neck, owing to poor corporate governance, undercapitalisation, unsustainable salaries and allowances. In the same vein, the government is cracking the whip among the local authorities that President Mnangagwa has said should “transform themselves into engines of economic growth and meaningfully contribute to improving the quality of life of all our people”.
I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that Zimbabwe is transforming its economy in ways that could see the country becoming a case study for Africa. Of course, Zimbabwe should not copy and paste everything that China did because the two countries are demographically different. Zimbabwe has to fine-tune the reforms to suit the local environment given its unique circumstances.
The usual suspects will not stop criticising, but it shall be well
And by the way, when China was implementing its reforms, international institutions like the IMF and the World Bank came up with all sorts of theories criticising the reforms as “unworkable”. American economists, in particular, at first dismissed the Chinese economic reforms, but a few years down the line they discovered that Uncle Sam’s years of dominance were numbered.
Just like they did in China; the IMF, the World Bank, the armchair critics and America will write colourful papers swearing by their mothers that the reforms being implemented in Zimbabwe will not work. They think they have a monopoly of ideas and are secretly praying that their illegal and evil sanctions will derail the Chinese miracle in Zimbabwe. Whether they like it or not, Zimbabwe is set to become Africa’s China!
Believe me, dear readers, I have been all over Zimbabwe and what is going on the ground is beginning to even scare me because in economics there is a phenomenon called “overheating”. This, according to economists, occurs when an economy is growing too fast. This is the Zimbabwe miracle in the making. Keep watching this space for more!
Food for thought
Each time the Brick by Brick magazine hits the streets its readers can’t help marvelling at its size, pagination-wise. Not surprisingly, I am inundated with so many questions, the most frequently asked question being: “Do you think you are going to find enough content for the next edition?” I fully understand the question because some Zimbabweans, quite of a number of them actually, are not used to the kind of journalism we are practising at the Brick by Brick magazine. They think journalism is all about scandals, sensationalism, conflict and negativity.
“Ooh, my God, this is amazing!”
I won’t get tired of hammering this point home: Brick by Brick is all about developmental journalism and not armchair journalism. Zimbabwe is going through an unprecedented socio-economic transformation that needs to be captured and documented right from the grassroots level. We cannot do that while sitting in some air-conditioned office or newsroom or while twiddling our fingers on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.
So the answer to the most frequently asked question, “Do you think you are going to find enough content for the next edition?” is an emphatic YES! Yes, there is a lot, in fact too much, happening in Zimbabwe to grow the economy and transform the lives of the people and, as the editor-in-chief, I can tell you it’s a nightmare to find space for all the developmental stories out there. I am talking about fascinating and inspirational real-life stories! In fact, our biggest worry is that there is so much happening on the ground and we are failing to capture it.
As we criss-cross Zimbabwe, Mukuwasha Baffour Ankomah, the publication’s managing editor, is often rendered speechless sat the sight of the developmental projects being rolled out across the country. “Ooh, my God, this is amazing! This is wonderful!” he always remarks. That is how amazing the Zimbabwean story is out there.
An apology to the farmers out there
Right now, I owe farming organisations and farmers across the country a huge apology because in this edition, we are focusing on Zimbabwe’s agrarian revolution. Farmers countrywide have been pleading with us to “Please come and see the wonders at my farm”, but we could not visit all of them due to our tight schedule. The Brick by Brick magazine team will be back on the road soon. So please cheer up and keep up the good work!
Meanwhile, I would like to assure you, dear readers, that if you want to read authoritative, comprehensive and insightful stories on Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector, this Brick by Brick edition is exactly what the doctor ordered. Yes, there are many mind-blowing statistics and far-reaching policy pronouncements on agriculture that you are already familiar with; but we go beyond the statistics and the pronouncements. We not only give the statistics and the pronouncements a human face, but also a human feel. Why torture readers with statistics and pronouncements which they can access at the click of a button on the internet?
And another apology to Midlands and Masvingo
I also owe the people of Midlands and Masvingo provinces an apology. Part of this edition is devoted to developmental projects in the two provinces, but due to space limitations, we could not include them all. Get it from me, dear readers, there are breathtaking developmental projects being rolled out in these two provinces.
Even though we could not cover all the stories in these two provinces, I can assure our dear readers that they will enjoy and get educated by the stories published herein. And tell you what, there is a breath of fresh air in the way government officials in these two provinces are going about their duties. The days of bureaucracy and red tape are gone, and gone for good. There is a new culture of working with minimal supervision. Kudos to Midlands and Masvingo!
Ooops! This was quite a lengthy response to the original question. In short, yes, we will find enough content for the next edition of Brick by Brick. Our headache is that we are always overwhelmed by the stories, but don’t worry dear readers, we will do things brick by brick, ward by ward, district by district and province by province to ensure that no place and no one is left behind as the country marches inexorably towards Vision 2030.
