The President had embarked on the trip last week in a bid to acquire the necessary funding to resuscitate the faltering economy which has seen the loss of at least 4,000 jobs in the first half of the year alone.
Reports, however, indicate that Mugabe returned with various Memoranda of Understanding which clearly indicate that China will only finance viable
infrastructural projects. This is remarkably different from the expected outcome of the trip which was to secure a $4 billion package.
Mr Supa Mandiwanzira, the Media Deputy Minister revealed this while saying that the trip to China was a success. “He went to China to attract investments in infrastructure, the key enabler of the economy. If the President signed deals on power, he has been more than successful.”
He justified this claim by disclosing that an investment in power would help improve the country’s generation capacity from the current 1,300 MW and improve chances of meeting the current demand of about 2,100MW.
Zimbabwe has maintained a relatively stable relationship with China. Han Bing, former Chinese Economic and Commercial Counselor explained that trade volumes between both countries reached US $1.1 billion all the way from $562 million over the three year period from 2010 to 2013. “So in these three years, especially in 2011 and 2013, Zimbabwe ranked number one in the whole of Africa in respect of attracting Chinese investments,” he said.
Mugabe may have more than just this economic crisis to worry about as recent attempts have been reportedly made to remove him from office.
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