Taking what’s not theirs
When Bill Gates suggested in his key note address at the ICTD 2009 conference in Doha that the time isn’t right to invest in Zimbabwe quite a few people took him to task. But one has to ask whether the people commenting negatively on Bill Gate’s statement on the Connect Communicate Collaborate blog would actually put their hands in their own pockets and invest in Zimbabwe especially when government entrenched corruption and fraud is par for the course in Zimbabwe.
I have maintained a Forex Currency Account (FCA) with Barclays for 5 years now with of course the usual complaints a customer has: tellers who take their time malingering etc. But this is a first and I have a feeling others could been in this mess. I have been doing regular withdrawals after getting confirmation from both the depositor and Barclays. And then this week I was told my account was OVERDRAWN. For me it was the case of the missing dollars that the legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes would be well placed to sniff out. Why would a bank allow a client to overdraw an FCA, I wondered? Each time I walk in I ask if I have enough money to withdraw and it is only then that I make any transaction, but then this week, the money I was expecting and which was confirmed by the sender suddenly wasn’t there. The bank appears to have bit off more than it could chew as it took more than what I have! Now I’m told I actually owe the bank! How’s that for a new Zimbabwe. Something is terribly wrong here and I believe this is not an isolated case after reports that the RBZ has been dipping its fingers in the till. - Kubatana subscriber
and . . .
Recently Hivos, a Dutch development organisation, said it was demanding repayment from the Reserve Bank of a total of EUR90,000 which it said has not been accounted for from a total of EUR300,000 taken from its account by the central bank. The organisation has since opened a new bank account in Botswana. Last year, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria said EUR5.64 million was missing from its bank account in Zimbabwe. The money has since been returned. On 18 April, Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, a member of Mugabe’s inner circle, admitted raiding foreign currency accounts. Gono defended the action, saying it was done to save the country from “maximum danger” due to difficulties arising from western sanctions. He also admitted in a statement to purchasing 29 vehicles for three state universities – Great Zimbabwe, Midlands State University and Chinhoyi University of Technology – using foreign currency in expenditures that were outside of the budget. - University World News (UK)
Until the Zimbabwean authorities clean up their act, Bill Gates is right to be skeptical.
As a Business Day article recently pointed out the Zimbabwean Government of National Unity figures that
obtaining international aid is based on a simple premise: after a few hiccups the country’s new unity government is running smoothly, so it’s time the world loosened its purse strings. Most governments with deep enough pockets to matter, notably the US and European Union (EU) members, have refused to buy into this rubbish.
Tuesday, May 5th 2009 at 11:44 am
A couple of things here.
1. The argument is not whether Bill Gates should invest in Zimbabwe or not. He can make his own mind up about that. This is not about investment, it is about development aid and peoples perceptions of Zimbabwe’s worth within this context.
2. Bill Gates was speaking in his capacity within the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Not Microsoft. This is important as the foundation directs a considerable amount of development resources towards Africa.
3. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation holds a unique position of influence over peoples perceptions of Africa and where developmental aid should be directed. It is not for me, or anyone else outside the foundation to direct them where to concentrate their developmental aid efforts. Only they can do that within their processes and within their dialogue with relevant stakeholders.
4. What is important here is that through saying that Zimbabwe was too far gone to warrant development aid, in a public forum, he has influenced the global consciousness against Zimbabwe. There remains a perception that Zimbabwe is a no go area with regard to development assistance. A man in his position needs to think carefully about the consequences of his throw away remarks.
There is no suggestion that Zimbabwe deserves more assistance than any other country. No-one is saying that the situation within Zimbabwe is without problems and challenges. But Zimbabwe does not deserve to be cast aside. It does not deserve to be labelled as a country without hope, a country to be avoided or a country that is less deserving than others.
Bill Gates is a man who wields considerable influence globally. A person within his position needs to be responsible about what they are saying.
Development aid is a touchy subject. The current models of development aid are not working. Aid is misdirected and often set against agendas. It is generally agreed that throwing development aid at governments within Africa has, in the past led to reliance and the perpetuation of aid. The conversation should not be about who does or does not deserve development aid. Rather we should be talking about how to make that development aid work. How do we build a sustainable Africa, away from aid reliance.