Zimbabwe Fact Sheet –A Summary

This post is courtesy of Zimbabwe democracy now.

Posted by ZDN on October 7, 2009

Global Political Agreement

Zimbabwe’s Global Political Agreement (GPA) to form an inclusive government was signed by Zanu-PF and the two formations of the MDC on 15 September 2008.  President Robert Mugabe (Zanu-PF) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) were sworn in on 11 February 2009.

Population

• 2000:  12.5 to 13 million
• 2009:  7-8 million (independent analysts’ estimate)
• 2009:  Diaspora:  at least 4 million people internationally, majority in South Africa

Economy

Prior to 2000, Zimbabwe was one of Africa’s strongest economies. But over the past decade, it has had the worst economic performance of all countries for which comparable data exists.

• The country’s real decline in economic output is estimated at more than 25% over a 25-year period.
• Export levels are down to US$1,4 billion compared to US$2,8 billion in 1999.

Rebuilding the Economy

• Zimbabwe’s finance minister Tendai Biti said that the country will grow by 6 to 7% in 2009 and that growth could rise by as much as 15% in 2010. But the International Monetary Fund forecast that Zimbabwe would experience a GDP growth of only 3.7% this year.
• Zimbabwe still faces a total debt of approximately $5.7 billion
• Energy sector:  Over US$3,3 billion required in next six years to boost aggregate energy supplies at major power plants.
• Health sector:  US$600 million needed to revive collapsed health sector
• Educational sector:  US$438 million is needed to stabilise the education sector for the first six months [David Coltart, Education Minister]

Hyperinflation

Zimbabwe is the first country in the 21st century to hyper-inflate. It has become a de facto dollar state as a result of chronic hyper-inflation that has eroded the local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar.

• Hyperinflation has produced an 80% decline in living standards over the past 10 years.
• Between 1997 and 2007, cumulative inflation was nearly 3.8 billion percent

Commercial Agricultural Sector

• Between 2000 and 2001, the value of commercial farmland fell by 75%.

Farm invasions are illegal in terms of Zimbabwean law. The targeting of white farmers for eviction by the state or anybody else is a violation of the November 2008 ruling by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal in Windhoek.  The ruling declared Mugabe’s farm redistribution programme discriminatory and illegal under the SADC Treaty to which Zimbabwe is a signatory.

• The burning of Mike Campbell’s farm in September is the latest example of the violation of these rulings. The government is refusing to recognise the SADC Tribunal judgement protecting Mike Campbell’s farm and the 77 other farmers who joined the case, and the SADC Tribunal ruling of 5 June 2009 that the Zimbabwean government was in contempt of its November 2008 ruling.

2009:

Only around 200 to 300 white commercial farmers are left in Zimbabwe, as opposed to 4,500 when the invasions began in 2000, and most have only small portions of their original landholdings left.

2008:

• Maize and soya bean production declined by more than 50%
• Tobacco and coffee production declined by more than 75%
• The commercial beef herd declined by more than 80%

Mining

In 2000, Mugabe said mines could be targeted after farm seizures were complete and in 2007 he said diamond mining would be reserved for the government after the state took back a concession following the discovery of the Marange diamond field by African Consolidated Resources.

• The mining industry at its peak accounted for about half the country’s foreign currency earnings and contributed over seven per cent of the GDP before Zimbabwe’s economy plunged in 1997.
• The Zimbabwean gold industry was once the third biggest in Africa, after South Africa and Ghana.
• Zimbabwe, SA and Russia are the only three countries with significant reserves of platinum – the metal used to curb car pollution.

Tourism

Prior to the land invasions, which began in February 2000, mining, agriculture and tourism were the country’s three largest foreign currency earners.  By August 2001, average occupancy rates had declined by 67%, with most overseas cancellations resulting from negative publicity.

In May this year, the European Union urged authorities in Harare to impose a moratorium on all land invasions on farms and conservancies, saying this could improve Zimbabwe’s tourism profile.

Xavier Marchal, head of the EU in Zimbabwe, said: “If there is no wildlife, there is no tourism and there are no investors.

• 1999: Nearly 600 000 tourists visited the country
• 2007: Less than 200 000 tourists visited the country

Humanitarian crisis

• Since 1998, life expectancy has declined from 55 years to 35 years.
• Nearly 50% of the population is at risk from malnutrition and starvation.
• The United Nations (UN) inter-agency humanitarian mission to Zimbabwe has called for an additional $350 million from donor countries to help feed 7-million starving Zimbabweans over the next two years, saying the prospects for the harvest season to alleviate the food crisis are grim.
• 2008: Poverty Datum Line:  more than 85% of Zimbabweans live below the PDL.

Unemployment

• 2009: 94% of the population is unemployed. In South Africa and Botswana, unemployment is estimated at 25% or less.
• In 2002, a bill forbidding unions from striking was passed.

Health Crisis

• Most Zimbabweans now have no access to healthcare.
• 1.7 million people between 15 and 49 years are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.
• TB:  Over 100 cases per 100 000 population, highest WHO risk category
• Malaria:  2.7 million cases (WHO estimate).
• Zimbabwe suffers the second-worst maternal mortality rate in the world after Sierra Leone, with an estimated 130 out of every 1,000 babies dying shortly after birth.

Cholera Update

World Health Organisation (www.who.org) update of 27 February 2009:

• Confirmed cholera deaths since August 2008:      3,894
• Reported cholera cases since August 2008:       84,027

July 2009:  The cholera epidemic resulted in more than 100 000 cases and over 4,200 deaths between August 2008 and July this year.

A possible cholera outbreak is looming, with nine new confirmed cases of the disease reported in Musikavanhi district of Manicaland province. The lack of clean water throughout much of the country will reportedly make another outbreak inevitable.

Only 23% of the population has access to safe drinking water.

Plight of Children

• 1985:  Child mortality:   59 per 1 000 (Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980)
• 1999:  Child mortality: 102 per 1 000
• 2008:  Child mortality: 150 per 1 000
• Orphans:   1.7 million children (estimate)
• 28% of children under the age of five are malnourished (estimate)
• According to the charity organisation Save Children, 10% of the children in Zimbabwe will not live to the age of five.
• Of the children under age 5 who die, nearly half the deaths are from easily preventable neonatal causes and pneumonia.
• For children who survive the early years, more than 6 in every 1,000 are born into a family in which the mother dies during delivery, while more die sometime during their childhood from HIV/AIDS.

State-sponsored Violence

• More than 600 lives have been lost to state-sponsored violence.
• More people have been killed by Zanu-PF since independence in 1980 than died in the liberation struggle.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum established that during 2008 alone there were 6 politically-motivated rape cases, 107 murders, 137 abductions and kidnappings, 1 913 assault cases, 19 instances of disappearance, 629 cases of internal displacement and 2 532 violations on freedoms of association and expression.  These were only the reported cases – many cases are not reported due to the fear factor.

Police officers are responsible for some of the most serious human rights and rule of law violations in Zimbabwe today. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has consistently shown disrespect and contempt for the law, lawyers and judicial authorities to an extent that has seriously imperilled the administration of justice and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

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Posted by Dave Fish Eagle on October 7, 2009. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.