"US$16b Mutapa Fund is game changer" said Prof Mugano. Nonsense, not as long as Zimbabwe remain a pariah state. W Mukori

@ Professor Mugano

The US$16 billion Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) is a game changer 

Today I had the privilege of having a 2 hour long learning meeting with the CEO of the MIF @DrJPMangudya at his offices.

As a curious “student”, I had a set of questions which were centered on governance issues, why an investment fund instead of resource based fund and role or relevance of the MIF in the Zimbabwe economy.

As part of his responses to my questions, @DrJPMangudya shared with me MIF’s 5 - year strategic plan with an acronym of FIRE:

Fix, Invigorate, Reinforce & Extract.

In this strategy, it classified the 30 entities under the MIF into four categories:

1. Cash cows

2. Stars

3. Dogs

4. Question marks 

Of each of these respective categories, the strategy has tailor-made strategies aimed at achieving 5 outcomes:

1. Financial performance of the entities under the Fund

2. Improvement in corporate governance of the entities under the Fund

3. Improve the contribution of SOEs to GDP - restore the 1996 glory where SOEs contributed 25% of GDP

4. Improve service delivery 

5. Build a stabilization fund

As a person who had initially dismissed the MIF, I went into the meeting as a doubting Thomas but I came out of the meeting as a convinced & converted person.

From today, I can speak and argue with facts on why the MIF is a game changer.

MIF you have earned an ambassador.

Watch the space!”

Interesting. However I will still maintain the position that there will be no meaningful economic, political or social change in Zimbabwe until we cure ourselves of the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Professor Mugano talked of the need for  “improved corporate governance”. In Zimbabwe all CEOs and line managers are appointed on the basis of patronage and political connections and not merit. And this weakness can be traced back to parent ministry and right up to State House. 

Any one who say Zimbabwe can ever be a prosperous nation and still remain a pariah state is a day-dreamer!And I for one has no time for time wasting day-dreamers! 

Remember Mugabe and his scientific socialism “Gutsa ruzhinji!” (Mass property!). It was all hot-air! Zimbabwe’s economy was in decline from the word go and in the period 2000 and 2008 it declined by a world record 50% on the tail of the collapse of the agricultural sector and the money printing madness that saw the hyperinflation soar to nauseating height of 500 billion per cent.

When Mnangagwa took over in 2017, he too was cocksure he would revive Zimbabwe’s comatose economy over night. “Zimbabwe is open for business!” he announced at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the world’s premier annual economic gathering of world economic and political leaders. 

The expected flood of investors never materialised because investors are a shrewd lot they could see that the military coup was just a musical chairs removing one dictator and replacing him with another. Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who rigged elections to stay in power.

Mnangagwa has since revised his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra. He is now promising to transform Zimbabwe from a poor nation with GDP per capita of US$2 000 to US$6 000 by 2030, Vision 2030. This is just a mirage! He has been in power for 8 years already and instead of signs of economic recovery there are signs the nation is sinking even deeper into the abyss. Corruption was bad under Mugabe it has gone into over drive under Mnangagwa. 

Mnangagwa promised there will be no electricity power cut in the country only for him to deliver his State Of Nation Address in the dark. No amount of rhetoric and propaganda can trump reality! “Rinemanyanga hariputirwi!” so goes the Shona adage.

The truth is Zimbabweans are an ignorant, naive and gullible people, they are easily conned. They believed Mugabe’s scientific socialism just as readily as they believe Mnangagwa’s vision 2030. 

Even the opposition upstarts like Nelson Chamisa have taken advantage of the people’s naivety. He has conned millions to participate in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy in return for a few gravy train seats. He knew that participating would give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate the dictatorship and the nation’s suffering.   

“US$16 billion Mutapa Investment Fund is a game changer!” Yeah right!  MIF is just another opportunity for the ruling elite to loot, precisely because they are not democratically accountable to the nation!!