Johannesburg - If Zimbabwe is to reverse course and become a thriving economy once again, it must stop blaming outside forces and focus on reforming its domestic situation, suggests a major new report released on Tuesday.
The report, titled The Zimbabwe Papers, has been compiled by eight of Africa's most respected think-tanks, and examines the causes of Zimbabwe's social and economic problems and offers a blueprint for urgent and practical reform that will enable the country to become a thriving, peaceful and prosperous country.
"We believe that Zimbabwe's Zanu-PF leadership must look in the mirror and accept that most of their problems are the result of their own misguided policies," the commissioners of the Zimbabwe Papers found.
"At some point, the dominance of Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF will evaporate and make way for sustainable reform," they said.
Over the past decade, average incomes in Zimbabwe have declined by more than two-thirds and life expectancy has fallen by 20 years.
The report says the cause is clear - policies implemented by Zimbabwe's government.
"Zimbabwe has turned from Africa's breadbasket into a basket case in less than a generation and we, as Africans, must recognise that the reason for this is the Government's failed policies," said The Free Market Foundation's Temba Nolutshungu, Commissioner of The Zimbabwe Papers.
Ending arbitrary violence
The Zimbabwe Papers addresses the main problems facing the people of Zimbabwe, from the constant threat of violence, to the crumbling healthcare system, to one of the worst cases of hyperinflation in world history.
It describes the main policy errors that have led to these problems and emphasises the need to take urgent action to reverse them.
The top priority is simultaneously to provide reliable money and reduce government expenditure.
Transactions are now being conducted in US dollars and South African rands, which has greatly increased business activity and stabilised prices.
Re-establishing a local currency would require adopting a currency board or pegging the currency to a major stable currency.
Other urgent actions advocated by The Zimbabwe Papers include ending the arbitrary violence inflicted by the military and police on Zimbabwean citizens, the reduction and simplification of taxes and tariffs to reduce corruption, improving the climate for entrepreneurs and increasing government revenue while the reduction of the regulatory burden on companies and support for the rule of law were also seen as essential to Zimbabwe's
turnaround.
"Zimbabweans have been persecuted by continuous state violence and destabilising, destructive economic policies that made the country one of the least hospitable business environments on earth," says another commissioner of the Zimbabwe Papers, Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI: The Centre for Policy & Education, Ghana.
"Zimbabweans must be able to live and work in an environment conducive to entrepreneurship; that means, sound money, simplified regulations, and low taxes. Only then will Zimbabwe get back to work," says Cudjoe.
- I-Net Bridge