(TALKZIMBABWE) Sadc backs US$10bill Zimbabwe plan
Sadc backs US$10bill Zimbabwe planFloyd Nkomo
Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:54:00 +0000
Front row, from left: Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, King Mswati III of Swaziland and South African President Kgalema Motlanthe pose for a family photo in Mbabane, Swaziland, on March 30, 2009 during a summit of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit. Political unrest in Madagascar took center stage at a special regional summit in Swaziland where leaders were also set to finalize an economic recovery package for Zimbabwe.
SOUTHERN African leaders agreed to lobby for and help finance a plan costing between US$8 billion and US$10 billion to rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy and help it tackle the humanitarian crisis.
The plan comes exactly 24 months after the bloc met during an Extraordinary Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where an economic rescue package was proposed.
The plan, drawn up by Zimbabwe's inclusive Government, calls for US$2 billion in “short-term relief,” South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told reporters near Swaziland’s capital Mbabane today, where leaders of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), a 15-nation regional grouping, are meeting.
"We were able to come up with an undertaking that in two weeks' time we should come back with concrete measures we would take,” Nhlanhla Nene, South Africa’s deputy finance minister, told reporters.
“In principle, all countries have undertaken to support in whatever way they could, in kind and also to assist in lobbying for support.”
South Africa immediately donated US$30 million to be disbursed in tranches of US$10 million over the next three months.
Speaking to reporters on arrival at Harare International Airport last night, President Mugabe described the Extraordinary Summit as the best summit held since the process towards the inclusive Government began.
"From our point of view, it was a very good meeting, the best we have had so far since all the discussions that took place on the inclusive Government," said President Mugabe.
"Collectively all of them (heads of state and/or government or heads of delegations) promised and agreed that they would wage a campaign in the donor world to raise funds for Zimbabwe, that’s one.
"Two to get sanctions lifted, that there would be a group that would go round to the countries that have imposed sanctions, to ask them in a vigorous way to lift those sanctions, and that group would comprise, among others a Zimbabwean minister or ministers.’’
Foreign Affairs Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said a committee of finance ministers that will be tasked with lobbying all the countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe to lift them and also to approach multilateral lending institutions to restore the country’s lines of credit was set up.
"An active campaign is going to be launched, where those who have imposed sanctions are going to be called upon to lift those sanctions. This is not going to be confined at the level of ministers alone, but all Sadc embassies are going to undertake this campaign to see that sanctions are lifted as speedily as possible. So that it is no longer a task of Zimbabwe’s missions abroad, but all the 14 Sadc countries have committed themselves to ensuring that their diplomats around the world are going to undertake this campaign to ensure that the sanctions are lifted as speedily as possible."
South Africa has been tasked with lobbying western countries to support the Zimbabwean package at the G20 Summit which opens in London on Thursday.
Western countries like Britain and the US have refused to lift sanctions and back the recovery plan saying they want to see that Zimbabwe’s new inclusive Government is functioning effectively before they are prepared to assist it.
The US State Department on March 20 rejected an appeal by President Mugabe for sanctions to be lifted. The US maintains sanctions against Zimbabwe with notorious pieces of legislation like the Zimbabwe Democracy Recovery Act (Zidera) passed in 2002 banning US companies from trading with Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe will need $8.5 billion in aid over the next two to three years and the inclusive Government has asked for US$1 billion in budget support and a US$1 billion line of credit in the “short- term,” Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube told reporters Monday.
On March 25, the International Monetary Fund said it would not release aid to Zimbabwe until the country has cleared its arrears of about US$130 million.
The IMF stopped lending to Zimbabwe in 1999. In 2003 the Washington-based lender suspended Zimbabwe’s voting rights.
IMF Measures
The African Development Bank said on Feb. 26 that Zimbabwe owes it $460 million, which must be repaid before it can resume lending.
Zimbabwe is taking measures to qualify for new loans from the IMF, Finance Minister Tendai Biti told reporters.
“We don’t want a lot from the IMF,” Biti said. “The IMF just gives you a seal of approval” which will enable the country to approach other donors for financing.
Sweden has given Zimbabwe about $15 million in aid recently, Biti added.
The Sadc comprises South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mauritius, Angola, Swaziland, Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
While South Africa gave Zimbabwe 300 million rand (US$31 million) in aid in October last year and plans to donate 225 million rand more over the next three years, many other countries in the region are not in a position to give money.
“This has come at a time when all countries are going through a tough time,” Nene said. “It’s not going to be easy to find real financial support.”
[Just to add, the African Development Bank is one of the 'Multilateral Finance Institutions' which the Secretary of the Treasury has instructed it's US director to vote against the extention or rescheduling of any loan or credit, see section 4C of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. The African Development Bank is one of the institutions listed in Section 3 - MrK]
Labels: HARARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, SADC, SANCTIONS, SUMMIT
posted by MrK @ 10:18 PM
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