Once touted as a beacon for southern Africa, the Zimbabwean economy has been ravaged by inflation, currently estimated at around four million per cent.
The burning question now is how likely the economies of the Southern African region will remain stable, not only with the flood of refugees into neighbouring countries, but also the inevitable pulling away of foreign investment in a region that has done little to end the Zimbabwean crisis.
The South African rand has steadily weakened in the weeks leading up to the
Zimbabwean election run-off. The security of the 2010 World Cup, which South Africa is set to host, is also coming under threat, with pressure groups calling on FIFA to remove the honour from Mbeki’s country because of his role in the Zimbabwean crisis.
Economic analyst Bekithemba Mhlanga told Newsreel on Monday that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region was under serious threat economically and there were ‘already economic implications because of the declining interest in Zimbabwe’.
Mhlanga said foreign investors, with an interest in Africa as a whole, would ‘start blanking the entire region instead of just Zimbabwe’. He said the ‘security of investment across the region is at threat’ until circumstances in Zimbabwe change.
Post published in: News