A United Kingdom based international financial consultancy firm, ICG Capital and Finance Corps Limited - in partnership with five top-tier United States banks - has tabled a US$5 billion debt restructuring and refinancing proposal for Zimbabwe, it has emerged this week.
In 2016 the then President Robert Mugabe admitted Zimbabwe was being “swindled” out of a staggering US$15 billion in diamond revenue alone. He was never arrested even one swindler up to the time he was booted out of office in November 2017. His successor, Mnangagwa promised “zero tolerance to corruption” and yet to date he too has failed to arrest even one diamond swindler or recover a single swindled dollar.
Worse still, we know the wholesale looting is continuing to this day. A year after Mugabe’s admission, the then Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, told parliament government was still receiving 1/6 of the expected diamond revenue. The situation has not changed to this day.
Two weeks ago Mnangagwa admitted he had failed to stamp out corruption because it is “deep-rooted”.
It is no secret that many of those in his cabinet are the diamond swindlers. Where else did VP Chiwenga, for example, get the money to build his C&M mansion, buy his fleet of cars, buy his 45 gold watches, etc.? Mnangagwa himself was named in a UN report as one of the Zimbabwe leaders who were involved in looting in the DRC two decades ago.
It is therefore not surprising that Mnangagwa has failed to uproot corruption in Zimbabwe. How can he when he and his fellow Zanu PF ruling elite are the godfathers of corrupt Mafia robbing the nation blind!
Clearly, Zimbabwe would not need this proposed US$5 billion bailout if the country stop the corruption costing the nation billions of dollars a month. What guarantees does ICG Capital have that the US$5 billion will not be looted?
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs the country’s economic meltdown will only get worse.
The people of Zimbabwe are waking up to that political reality, it is 39 years late but better late than never. They know the country must force this illegitimate Zanu PF regime to step down to allow for the appointment of an interim administration to implement the democratic reforms to end the curse of the rigged elections and pariah state.
We have a plan, we know what we are doing and all we are asking for if the time and space to implement the plan! What ICG Capital are doing here is undermine all our efforts and sacrifices to date to pressure Zanu PF to step down by propping up the corrupt and tyrannical regime with this bailout!
The corruption in Zimbabwe is so rampant that the Zimbabwe economy will, in the end, succumb and with it the Zanu PF dictatorship. ICG Capital and company must know that if that should happen before this Zanu PF has repaid the US$ 5 billion bailout the incoming Zimbabwe government will NOT be under an obligation to repay the loan!
It is high time that companies like ICG Capital are taken to task for their selfishness. Indeed, Zimbabwe would be within its rights to not only refuse to repay the outstanding loan but to recover whatever the nation would have repaid! This bulls*** must be denounced and stamped out!
It is high time that companies like ICG Capital are taken to task for their selfishness. Indeed, Zimbabwe would be within its rights to not only refuse to repay the outstanding loan but to recover whatever the nation would have repaid! This bulls*** must be denounced and stamped out!
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The inability by foreign investors to repatriate capital and disinvestment proceeds from the country is hampering the performance of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, amid reports custodians are threatening to block foreigners from investing into the country's capital markets.
This comes as the payments backlog has grown substantially from the US$126m reported as at February this year while it is also difficult to repatriate proceeds made after the February 20 Monetary Policy Statement, in spite of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's priority addition on portfolio funds.
Investments on the stock market come through custodians, which include Stanbic Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, CABS and ZB Bank although the bulk of the funds are locked at Stanbic and Standard Chartered.
The economic reality is catching up, the ordinary people have suffered for years now and the big guys have carried on and hardly noticed. But now with the economy now in meltdown, even the big guys are coughing blood! One only hopes that the regime will finally listen and do something to end this madness!
Zanu PF has failed to rig economic recovery and the only way out is for the regime to step down. All this talk of political dialogue is just a waste of time, Zanu PF failed and they must go, period!
@ Ncube
As Minister of Finance, I often feel frustrated that we don't live in a perfect world with perfect conditions. So many factors are out of our control; from natural disasters, to global events; from oil prices to the outbreak of disease. We are also in a democracy with lots of decision-makers. We operate in bureaucracies which take time for the wheels to turn.
Yet we have a challenge on our hands which needs dealing with, and quickly. We are mending an economy which we inherited in dire straits. Even when all the right policies are being implemented; even when all the political will for economic reform is present; even when Zimbabwe is opening up to the world; rebuilding our devastated economy will take time.
The most important thing is that the train of sensible economics is firmly back on the tracks. We no longer spend more than we earn; the first rule of any economic entity, be it a person or a country. Balancing the budget is imperative. This is perhaps our greatest achievement to date. It is neither painless nor smooth; but reforming and rebuilding never is.
The economy is NOT firmly “back on the tracks” and will never be as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. You, of all people, should know that the wholesale looting in Marange and Chiadzwa has continued unabated.
Mugabe admitted the country was losing a staggering US$15 billion. He never arrested even one looter and Mnangagwa too has done nothing. He complained that corruption “was deep-rooted”. We all know many of the Zanu PF ruling elite are corrupt including Mnangagwa himself. No wonder he has failed to uproot corruption, he and his fellow top leaders are the godfathers of the corrupt Mafia ruling the country.
Minister Ncube is being naïve in thinking the Zimbabwe economy will ever recover whilst the nation remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. “We operate in bureaucracies which take time for the wheels to turn!” is that you excuse for your naivety! You knew Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections and that corrupt has rampant and still you chose to ignore these reality and work for the ruthless thugs out of your selfish economic and egotistic reasons.
There are people today who are now living in abject poverty, made a lot worse by your misplace economic policies that have targeted the poorest of the poor whilst leaving the filthy rich untouched.
@ Witness Bote
“Wilbert you are not patriotic, you only want to see Zimbabwe in dire straits, what do you benefit by seeing your country people willowing in poverty. Politics aside promote investment wherever you are,” you say.
No doubt you, Witness, and many other Zimbabweans out there have all done their bit to promote investment “putting politics aside”, as you said. And yet the economy has sunk like a stone these last 39 years. You should have asked yourselves why?
Zimbabwe is dire strait because of 39 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and lawlessness that have made it impossible for the economy to survive much less thrive. In other words by ignoring the effect of Zanu PF on the economy your were burying your heads in the sand. If you cannot see the folly of this even now after 39 years then you are physically and mentally blind.
You have been warned of your challenged but to no effect and now you want me to join you in your blindness! Only a fool would ever agree to close his/her eyes just to suffer and keep company with the blind! I am no such fool.
Zimbabwe’s credit rating is varies between D and DDD with D standing for default and any lender worth his/her salt will not want to grant anyone a loan knowing there is a real possibility they will not get their money back.
When the risk of not getting the money back is high the lender will change very high interest rates to factor in the risk the debtor will default. So in this case ICG Capital and their partners will be charging Zimbabwe an arm and a leg in interest charges given the country’s junk credit rating.
Zimbabwe will be better off bitting the bullet and sort out its political mess of corruption and pariah state and thus improve its credit rating then and only then borrow money from reputable financial institutions like IMF, WB, Paris Club, etc. at the low and manageable interest rates. ICG Capital is doing Zanu PF and itself a great favour but it is not doing the people of Zimbabwe any favours.
We need Zanu PF to step down now so we can implement the democratic reforms the US$5 billion bailout will only give the regime the confidence to hang on to power. If Zanu PF is still in power in 2023 the party will rig those elections, guaranteed! And that is the last thing Zimbabwe want. THE LAST THING!
@ Tenson Donha
“You are possessed by demons Patrick.I have never written a comment but after reading yours I had to, because I never thought there is a sane Zimbabwean who thinks Zimbabweans should suffer because a bunch of people would want to be in power. Politics should be left to politicians mostly those with people at heart like Tsvangirai,” you said.
“Zimbabweans are not as stupid as you think they are. For you to think that those who are aspiring for high offices can use them as shields on their intended climb to higher offices is hallucinating of the highest level.”
If Zimbabwe’s political leaders have the people’s interests at heart as you say then why Zimbabwe is such a political and economic mess?
I take it you would agree that a country that has murdered over 30 000 of its innocent civilians in cold blood for the self reason of establishing a de facto one party dictatorship is indeed in a political mess. I would also expect you to agree that a country that has seen unemployment to soar to nauseating heights of 90% is in an economic mess.
Any Zimbabwe who does not see that the country is in a real mess is not only stupid to have allowed the mess to develop but worse still is so dumb he/she can still not see the mess before him/her even after having his/her nose rubbed into it for 39 years!
The officials close to OPC said their boss will soon be out of power because for some unclear reasons and disagreement, China has decided not to give Mnangagwa a multi-billion economic bailout package he had hoped to use in turning the economy around, when he stealthily took over from Mugabe.
Mnangagwa had high hopes of securing an initial US$2 billion bailout from President Xi Jinping in September 2018, soon after controversially winning presidential elections a month earlier, when he visited China, to attend the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac) summit, but nothing significant and tangible came out of the trip.
“China was supposed to have assisted his (Mnangagwa) presidency with an economic package of up to US$10 billion,” the OPC officials said. “This is one of the major reasons the new dispensation has failed to fix the economy. The money they expected has not come, and it has to do with dynamic power play in government, as the military now has oversight over the president. A little bird has told us that elements in security establishment are the ones who prevented the bailout from coming through, because it was likely going to buy Mnangagwa a full two term mandate. China is now dealing directly with the military on Zimbabwe’s affairs. It is the military which has a better chance of securing the bailout package in question, but first they have to name a new leader to takeover.”
Are we to assume that the Chinese did not honour the mega deals they signed with Mugabe because they wanted the economy to fail and put Mugabe on the spot because they wanted Mnangagwa to takeover.
When Mnangagwa did take over they helped him rig the 2018 election and make the same mega deal promises to spice up his presidency to the gullible Zimbabwe electorate and thus secure his win. Now we learn that the Chinese have dumped Mnangagwa too and the mega deals have once again come to naught.
No doubt the Chinese are going to string Chiwenga or whoever it is they want as the next Zimbabwe leader. We, the people of Zimbabwe, will continue to have no meaningful say in who governs the country. Worse still, we will continue to pay dearly for all this Chinese interference and imposed corrupt and incompetent leaders.
It is not just Mugabe and now Mnangagwa the Chinese have taken for a ride but the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans whose lives is hell on earth because of the decades of Chinese interference in Zimbabwe affairs for their own selfish gains. The sooner we can get rid of these Zanu PF thugs the sooner we can be free of their Chinese handlers!
“I never thought there is a sane Zimbabwean who thinks Zimbabweans should suffer because a bunch of people would want to be in power.' We have been held hostage for 30 years by a government who wanted to stay in power! And now they're going to get $5 billion to add to the money they've already and continue to steal from us…,” you said.
Bless you! You are 100% correct there, the nation is suffering because Mnangagwa and his fellow Zanu PF thugs are holding the nation hostage. You are one of the blessed few who have seen this basic truth. There are millions of others out there who have yet to see this truth.
It is not the truth of how Zanu PF has denied the ordinary people their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life itself is hidden. It is not hidden, it is there for all to see. The millions have NOT seen it because they close their physical and mental eyes.
How can you see if you refuse to open your eyes!
It is not all who see who perceive. How can you perceive is you close your mind!
Blessed are those who open the eyes and minds and see and perceive. Blessed are you who hear and understand.
Cursed are those who blunder from pillar to post with the eyes shut and their minds switch off. The good Lord gave us the eyes to see and the intellect to chose what is right and wrong. There is nothing to be done with those who have chosen to close their eyes and have stop exercising their brain it has atrophied into an utterly useless lump of fatty tissue.
Zimbabweans are suffering and stuck in this hell-on-earth because of the folly of the millions out there who will not open their eyes and are brain-dead. The nation is suffering for the sins of the village idiots whose foolishness is beyond the pale! Zimbabwe has certainly had more than her fair share of village idiots and it shows!
”WE WILL MAKE SURE THIS WILL WORK,
WILL NOT WORK,
NO,
IT WILL WORK,
YOU WILL NOT WORK, SIMPLE.”
With such village idiots for leaders it is clear why we are in this mess and, worse still, have no hope of ever getting out. None!
@ Mechavio
“Wilbert Mukori only dishonest people like you Wilbert Mukori will try to hide the real cause of our suffering. We know very well why you and Guramatunhu never asked what Chamisa meant to the people of Mashonaland Central at Nzvimbo Growth Point when he told those gathered at the MDC A rally that sanctions were part of the MDC A political strategy. I am only rejoicing because the heroic people of Mashonaland Central paid Chamisa in kind. He admitted denying our people a viable economy, they refused to give him their votes.”
I am concerned with the truth, facts and reality. I know that the country’s economic meltdown is because of 39 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and lawlessness by this Zanu PF dictatorship. The economy was already in the gutter as exemplified by the two five-year Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP) of 1990 to 1995 and the 1995 to 2000. The two programmes failed to work, IMF and WB stopped funding Zimbabwe, etc. The sanctions were imposed in 2001 long after the economy was on its nose-dive!
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s elections and all the election observers said so in their reports. How can the elections be judged free, fair and credible when the regime failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll!
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF junta are illegitimate and they will step down. Forget all this MDC A nonsense of “political dialogue” and another GNU! The country needs a working solution to end this political and economic mess and making sure that Zanu PF steps down is that solution the rest are gimmicks.
Making sure Zanu PF steps down is my Holy Grail! Watch this space!
@ Mechavio
“Wilbert Mukori It is a BIG lie that 20 000 or 30 000 people were killed by security forces. It is a lie that 15 billion worth of diamonds were mined at Chiyadzwa.
Only fools, if not idiots will go to the top of the mountain to shout themselves mad on falsehoods, simply because they hate the government.
There is nothing to tell about 15 billion that wasn’t, Wilbert. You simply have no shame because you are over blinded by hate.”
I am not the one who has said over 20 000 innocent civilians were murdered in cold blood during Gukurahundi. Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice and many other reputable organisations have said that.
It was Robert Mugabe who admitted that US$15 billion in diamond revenue was being “swindled”. There have been many others in the know including the parliamentary report by the late Zanu PF MP Edward Chindori-Chininga stating that corruption was rampant in Marange and Chiadzwa.
It is village idiots like you would are lying and think that by denying the truth about Zanu PF being corrupt and murderous thugs they are doing the nation a great favour! Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess because there are millions of brain-dead village idiots like you who will not open their eyes. You have not use your brain for so long it is now turned into a lump of utterly useless fatty tissue in different of that amassed in the tail of some breed of sheep!
@ Mutero
“We all agree Zimbabwe's economy is in bad shape and that we pray for a miracle to change the fortunes of the country but then a Zimbabwean writes a lengthy article to decampaign efforts to revive the economy makakwana here baba imi,” you said.
You admit that “Zimbabwe’s economy is in bad shape” and you are 100% right, it is in real bad shape. What you should ask yourself is what got the Zimbabwe economy into this mess and once you understand that then you will agree with Patrick.
What Patrick has said here is that corruption, mismanagement and lawlessness got us into this mess. he has said here is what got us into this mess. He has argued that we should deal with these problems first. What is the point of getting this US$5 billion bailout and burden the nation with more debt when we are wasting billions of dollars every month from corruption? We would not need the bailout if we stopped the looting!
To believe the bailout will be used to revive the economy given all the criminal waste going on is naive to say the least.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs there will never be any meaningful economic recovery; a fact that should be crystal clear to all except those who refuse to open their eyes.
No Zimbabwe does not need any miracle and there will be no miracle. What we need and have needed all these last 39 years is for people to open their eyes!
Only a first class village idiot would blissfully hope that US$5 billion will revive the comatose economy whilst doing nothing to stop the looting of billions of dollars every month! Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess because, as a nation, we have more than our fair share of first class idiots alright! Note, I did not say you are one of them.
This is just wishful thinking, as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs there will never be any meaningful economic recovery. The austerity measures that the regime has imposed is hurting, especially the poorest of the poor whom the regime has particularly targeted in its plans such as the 2% tax on all electronic transactions more than $10. The real tragedy is the suffering will all be for no gain since the economic fundamentals are not right for any economic recovery.
"Zimbabwe is finding its feet!" Nonsense, Zimbabwe will only find its feet the day the nation is finally able to act decisively on something the nation has known for decades - that the country is ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous tyrants.
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