Soon after assuming office in the country’s new power-sharing government, finance minister Tendai Biti gave a vivid account of the challenges he faces. Biti has been given perhaps the most unenviable post in the unity government as the country is faced with multimillion percent inflation, several millions of people dependent on humanitarian aid and a system 
of physical and human infrastructure which has suffered greatly over the last decade

The Africa Report: You have just taken over the reins of Zimbabwe’s coffers at a time the economy has nose dived. What are your top priorities?


TENDAI BITI: Everyone knows that this economy is dead. Everyone knows that this economy has got structural problems. Everyone knows that there has been massive devaluation of the economy and massive de-industrialisation. So we need to ensure that we get this economy, which was drowning, on a safe landing ground, on shore, on a beach, so that we can begin to apply mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. So some of the key issues that are critical are, for instance, the resuscitation of the agricultural sector, the mining sector, the tourism sector, the manufacturing sector, in its various components, and the retail sector.
But we also have social obligations. There is a need for a social plan. The question of education, the question of health, the question of food – the whole humanitarian matrix: that’s a challenge. Then you’ve got about two or three sectors that are critical. The first is the water sector, for obvious reasons. The second is the energy sector. 



You have been minister for a short while and you have already begun paying civil servants in foreign currency. How come Zimbabwe has suddenly been able to find the money after months of financial problems?


Maybe that’s the benefit of somebody new. But we’ve done it. You guys are asking me to tell you that, oh, I got $20m from this one or that one. I can’t do that. But we’ve paid them.



So no money from outside your government, either from neighbouring South Africa or Western partners?


Absolutely zero. We have paid on our own as government and it is something that I’m very proud of. When I walked into office on my first day, the first thing that my permanent secretary told me was: “Mr Minister, forget about everything. You have got a problem. You’ve got salaries to pay tomorrow; you’ve got to pay the army tomorrow. What are your proposals? We’ve got a voucher that will be redeemed.” I said,“But look, that can’t happen. There has to be credibility. People have to get their money.” That was the problem and we resolved it, fortunately.

Zimbabwe is broke, so where do you expect to get the money to reboot the economy? Will you approach donors and friendly governments to assist Zimbabwe?


Yes, we might be broke financially, but not in terms of creativity, not in terms of goodwill, hard work, zeal and zest. I personally was among those who were very sceptical about the inclusive government for a number of reasons. But now that we’re in it, we have to make it work for the sake of the people that are suffering out there.



You were sceptical about the power-sharing arrangement, but you were eventually won over. Now you are in government, you say it must work. But, in your heart of hearts, will a transitional cabinet of rivals really work?


Ah, it’s going to work. If there are fights in marriages, when you have proclaimed to love someone – I love you and the other fool says I love you – how much more [likely is this] in a government of completely ideologically different people. You know, you have to expect these problems. But, for the sake of Zimbabwe, it has to work. It has to work. It will work, and I believe that genuinely. I would not have accepted this position and this appointment if I did not believe that it would work.



What about the emotive issues – land and agricul
ture? Zimbabwe used to supply food exports for the region, yet millions of Zimbabweans are now surviving on hand-outs. 


There is no alternative to a return to agricultural sustainability and self-sufficiency. We just have to work on that.


As far as political issues around land – to use your language, the so-called emotive issues – we have dealt with them in the Global Political Agreement (GPA). In the GPA, we have said there has to be a land audit and, quite clearly, the basis of the land audit is to ensure efficiency and that there is no wastage and abuse. Secondly, in the GPA, we have dealt with the issues of tenure and the restoration of land rights to all land that is being farmed. We have dealt with the issues around the right of every Zimbabwean to farm, irrespective of colour. That is another political issue. 


We have dealt with the issue of the right of women to farm on the land. We have also dealt with the issue of security, that anyone farming – irrespective of colour – must have a certificate of title so that you know you are secure and nobody will remove you. And, when you plant a crop, you are guaranteed that you are going to harvest it. We have dealt with those political issues in the GPA. What we have not dealt with is the sustained use of that land. The fundamental thing is, let’s have self-sufficiency, let’s have sustainability and, pursuant to that, quite clearly we must do something about the winter crop that is around the corner. Then we must do something about the summer crop.
 


So when do you expect foreign investors to come knocking at Zimbabwe’s door?


They are already knocking. We offer an excellent climate, an excellent business environment and those that are going to be slow will be left out. We mean business, and this is a beautiful country with so many investment opportunities. So they are welcome, but they must trade in terms of our laws.