China puts screws on Zimbabwe

The Chinese government is seeking the secondment of its officials to key Zimbabwe parastatals to ensure that Chinese loans for government projects are not lost to “leakages”, it emerged this week.

A Chinese delegation was in Zimbabwe to lay the groundwork for the implementation of economic agreements signed in August 2014 by the two countries. There are now concerns from some government officials that the Chinese government is angling for a greater stake in, and control of, Zimbabwe’s natural resources and government entities before the agreements are implemented.

Zimbabwe has so far failed to get the $27-billion it is seeking to implement its ambitious economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), which the government sees as a panacea to the country’s economic problems.

Zimbabwe signed a number of memorandums of understanding with China during President Robert Mugabe’s visit there last year, which the government said would kick-start the implementation of ZimAsset and aid efforts to revive the economy.

China pledged to assist Zimbabwe in implementing infrastructure ­projects in various sectors of the economy, including power generation, water, telecommunications, agriculture and mining.

Mugabe went to China seeking a $4-billion rescue package, but other than the memorandums of understanding, he came back empty- handed. Most of the projects agreed to with the Chinese government have yet to take off and are subject to feasibility studies.

The Chinese have also expressed concern over the loss of revenue in the parastatals and ministries that will oversee the implementation of the deals, should the feasibility studies be successful…

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