Africa-Press – Gambia. February 2022 marked a turning point in global affairs as Russia moved into Ukraine to conduct what President Putin calls a special military operation.
While acknowledging various entwined events leading to this critical page in human history it is important to realise that during all the chaos, uncertainty and losses a new era is being ushered in.
The critical question is what does this mean for Africa or rather precisely here at home in Zimbabwe?
What started off as purely military has turned into economic warfare dressed in a heavy garment made of ever-increasing sanctions on Russia and almost everything Russian.It is not surprising that the West is using sanctions to cement their global hegemony. Zimbabwe relates well to the issue of sanctions as they have for over two decades hindered economic growth and triggered political unrest in the country as I once highlighted in my previous article on sanctions.
It is therefore significant for us as Zimbabweans to take lessons from Russia and how they have sought to create an almost sanction-proof economy.
The United States, Canada and Europe are tightening financial restrictions on Russia with a new ban that blocks seven Russian banks from using SWIFT, the global messaging system that enables bank transactions and the move is aimed at disrupting Russia’s ability to do business across borders.
Then comes in the China factor, where the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) gives China and Russia an opportunity to create a new system to replace SWIFT and de-dollarisation of all their transactions which in turn creates balance for peace.
The Russian economy has its strength in energy and it produces 11 million barrels a day which translates to $33 billion a month or $396 billion a year.
The West depends on Russian oil and gas to such an extent that the European Union is still divided on the issue of sanctioning Russian oil and gas.
Countries such as Germany have been hesitant on this matter arguing that this will have a great impact on the German economy.
Russia has been able to leverage their position as a major energy player to put this into the Zimbabwean context we are blessed with sunlight enabling us to work towards full solarisation for us to become less dependent on electricity imports.Fortunately the Government has been working on various huge solar projects under the inspired leadership of President Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe has significant lithium deposits testified by the recent Arcadia deal which opens up significant prospects in the future for the Zimbabwean economy.
Going forward the leadership needs to put much more effort in protecting this precious commodity as it is the driving force towards electric vehicles hence less dependency on oil.
There is a need for progressive policy enhancement so that the country may be able to leverage this for economic growth, employment and import substitution.
Russia is a major producer of various grains such as wheat and as such it is feared that the world will face severe wheat shortages leading to increased bread prices because of the current impasse.
This is a wake-up call for every Zimbabwean and a reminder that we can return to our African breadbasket status through the proper implementation of our Command Agriculture initiative and the Pfumvudza Conservation Agriculture.As the third largest producer of gold, Moscow is at an economic advantage as they are currently benefiting from increasing gold prices.
This can be emulated for Zimbabwe as we have decent gold deposits which can be used to create significant reserves to allow us to be well-positioned for the new era of global politics and economics.
As the nation is headed for elections in 2023 it is critical for Zimbabweans to be able to realise that the economy will only be built by its citizens and that there is need to protect our resources from foreign interference.
Zimbabweans must stand together in condemning sanctions and corruption so that we can position ourselves to be the SADC economic powerhouse.
Hon Tongai Mafidi Mnangagwa is the Member of Parliament for Harare South.
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