Mugabe is Bailed out by Beijing. But too Little too Late for Zimbabwe?
The southern African strong man was greeted by President Xi Jinping in a full state visit to China. But did Mugabe put up all his minerals and ore for a badly needed loan?
China has agreed to help Zimbabwe avoid a total economic meltdown.
Without the promise of assistance from Beijing that came last month, Zimbabwe could not even begin to pay its civil servants, police, and soldiers their monthly wages. Nor, without China’s support, could Zimbabwe continue to import oil and gas, and crucial foodstuffs with which to feed its people.
Ever since President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) unexpectedly won a possibly rigged parliamentary and presidential election last year, defeating the reformist Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe’s economy has been in free fall. A number of banks have failed. Hundreds of businesses have collapsed. Some 80 percent of working age adults are unemployed.
To read the full version of the article from Wilson Center Fellow Robert Rotberg, please visit: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2014/0904/Mugabe-is-bailed-out-by-Beijing.-But-too-little-too-late-for-Zimbabwe-video?cmpid=addthis_email#.VBdir9lo_3w.email
About the Author
Robert I. Rotberg
Founding Director of the Intrastate Conflict Program, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Africa Program
The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in US-Africa relations. Read more
