Impact of sanctions on the Mining sector : Mambokadzi wekwaMasarira

1. The mining sector was negatively affected by the sanctions resulting in:

• Limited funding to recapitalize as most financiers stopped providing lines of credit to the industry;

• Failure to receive proceeds from minerals sales especially those associated with the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ); and

• Reduced ability to access new markets.

2. Of particular concern are the negative effects on the minerals marketing and the diamond companies.

3. Two minerals marketing companies were designated by the US and the EU as some entities against which sanctions were imposed in 2008 and 2012 respectively, with the American and EU citizens and entities, and other entities outside these two jurisdictions prohibited from doing business with or providing financial and technical assistance to these organisations. Assets belonging to these marketing companies within the USA and the EU were immediately frozen and could not be withdrawn or liquidated. In essence, the marketing companies could not deal with US and EU persons and entities because anyone who violated these measures was liable for prosecution. Potential buyers of Zimbabwean minerals risked losing the minerals or proceeds thereof.

4. After selling the minerals on behalf of producers, marketing companies are supposed to receive all monies for sales outside the country. However due to sanctions, the two companies were incapacitated to carry out this mandate and this affected the Corporation’s receipts of funds.

5. On its part, one of the marketing companies has failed to implement its turnaround strategy due to the failure to attract investors, high cost of capital and/or inability to recapitalize, inaccessible lines of credit, and inability to trade in any USD denominated currency.

6. From a marketing perspective the sanctions have led to:

• Reduced ability to access new markets and market share as it eliminated the US and the EU as its markets;

• Reduced negotiation clout, competitiveness and choice as it could not access essential services like banking, logistics, and marketing journals  from the USA and the EU;

• Loss of customers/clients as major corporations were unwilling to deal with the minerals marketing companies;

• Compromised monitoring role as the corporation is no longer involved in logistics and movement of products to the market; and

• Forced to sell on an ex-works basis instead of free-on-board or delivered basis, thus significantly reducing potential revenue to the government.

7. From a financial perspective, the sanctions have affected all the foreign currency transactions with the companies unable to directly transact in foreign currency. To date, a total of USD1.2 million in producer funds and government royalties have been blocked by the US government. Producers are now receiving their funds directly from customers outside Zimbabwe creating a problem for the government as some producers tend to evade paying taxes and royalties. It is never guaranteed that Zimbabwe will recover its blocked funds. 

8. Concerning the diamond companies, the sanctions made it difficult for them to effectively market and trade their diamonds at competitive prices, forcing them to sell the precious mineral at discounted prices of more than 25 percent below the normal prices.  The companies traded their diamonds through unconventional means because major international banks, insurance companies and couriers did not want to be associated with diamonds from Chiadzwa. Furthermore, some global diamond players could not trade and deal directly with Chidzwa diamond companies under their normal banners/names for fear of retribution. They had to find other entities to trade with, a process that had serious business and cost implications.

International Day of Rural Women: Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19 : Mambokadzi wekwaMasarira

Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats joins the rest of the world to commemorate the International Day of Rural Women. The Day recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”  It is purposely held the day before World Food Day, in order to highlight the role played by rural women in food production and food security.

Women play a vital role in the rural economy, the #Covid19 pandemic has greatly affected them socially, economically and emotionally. The pandemic has also heightened the vulnerability of rural women’s rights to land and resources. 

Women living in rural areas in Zimbabwe have been subjected to second class treatment since time immemorial. The Zimbabwean government has done so little to help alleviate rural based women's socio-economic status quo. The Pfumvudza concept is good for subsistence farming and food security of families and not income generation.

The current wave of job losses induced by the Corona virus pandemic have a serious adverse effect on elderly women who relied on their working children to provide them with seed and fertilizer. Vendors were restricted from selling their wares, which was their only source of livelihood in this harsh economic climate which the majority of Zimbabweans have been subjected to. These vendors were also breadwinners to elderly women in rural areas. 

Rural women in Zimbabwe suffer from poor government policies which do not consider their plight as most of them failed to get basic education. Gender discrimination is the order of the day in rural Zimbabwe. Rural women in Zimbabwe deserve a comfortable life and it is imperative for the Ministry of Women affairs to ensure that laws are in place to eliminate stereotypes based on patriarchy and the subordination of women. Women living in rural areas have been promised for years that they would benefit from the rural electrification programme, which was only limited to growth points. They face a lot of challenges  like lack of energy, long distance walks to fetch firewood, poverty, isolation, as well as misinformation, and a lack of access to critical technologies that can improve their work and personal life. The constant cutting down of trees is detrimental to the ecosystem and environment  as it causes deforestation which increases the rate of global warming. Global warming has adverse effects on the rainfall patterns, which contributes to drought and directly affects the rural woman. The current government in Zimbabwe has failed to correct and find solutions to the problems facing the average rural woman.

The ruling party has failed to address water and sanitation issues in rural areas which has adversely affected the health of women living in rural areas. 

Nearly 90% of women living in rural areas still fetch water from unprotected sources. They have no access to protected water and travel long distances to get water. It is critical to engage development partners to drill boreholes and assist in building dams in our quest to ensure that people living in rural areas have safe water sources.

Rural Zimbabwean women are still being treated as second class citizens 40 years after lndependence and that has to change. LEAD is committed to transforming the livelihoods of the average rural woman by empowering, educating and training them to become financially independent. The  colonial setting made men wage workers in industry and farms but did not pay them well to enable them to survive.  Women and children left in rural areas ended up working to complement their husbands working in town. Today, due to de-industrialization, women are suffering even more as they have to feed the whole family without any help from men as they are unemployed. With water and electricity not being adequately provided by government, and poverty levels remaining as high as 90% in rural areas, women bear the largest burden of poverty in Zimbabwe.

LEAD is the solution to rid Zimbabwe of the corruption and poor governance. Rural women suffer the most from the activities of corrupt, uncouth and  unethical leaders who are holding public offices. 

As Labour, Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) we have SEED as our Manifesto which is Sustainable Empowerment and Economic Development (SEED). Our focus is mainly on development, devolution, depolarizing the political economy, decolonizing the mindset and economic growth. Rural development is at the core of our mandate. Agriculture contributes to development as ana economic activity and livelihood. In recognition of the great work that women in rural areas continue to do, to sustain livelihoods, it is imperative to unlock opportunities for them to move from subsistence farming to commercial farming. Agriculture is an instrument for achieving propoor and inclusive development which will uplift the quality of lifestyle for women living in rural areas. 

LEAD is an alternative peoples party which is concerned about the plight of all Zimbabweans taking into cognisance the plight of the rural woman. We intend to bring about free and fair democratic elections thereby bringing good governance and relief to the suffering rural women in Zimbabwe.

Mambokadzi Linda wekwaMasarira 

LEAD President