ZIMBABWE could stage an economic recovery within two years and a best case scenario could see it “back as one of the most successful countries in Africa” within 10 years. This is the view of Xan Smiley, the Africa editor of The Economist, speaking at a summit in Johannesburg yesterday on the future of Zimbabwe, hosted by the magazine.
Smiley said there had been considerable progress over the past 18 months especially in light of where the country had been in March 2008. Smiley said the “mood has changed” in the country. “In Harare (pictured)there is a palpable sense of vibrancy (but) the mood is very mixed,” he said.
He said levels of violence were “considerably down”, compared with two years ago. Among the improvements he identified, following the dollarisation and “randisation” of the economy, were that inflation had fallen to single digits.
He said: “People are being paid, there is a sense of certainty, goods are available, and there is decent food for those who can afford it.” And he said the agricultural sector was starting to recover.
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