Paul Nyakazeya, Group Digital Editor 
Political violence has always been a cause for concern for business.
YESTERDAY’s protests in Harare, following Monday’s hotly-contested national elections, dampened business’ hopes that Zimbabwe would finally overcome its economic challenges of the past 20 years.
The ugly scenes in the capital came after both economists and business representatives had expressed confidence that the relatively peaceful atmosphere that was experienced before and during voting day would spur economic growth in the country.
The business community also said this week that it stood ready to work with the new government to revive the country’s stuttering economy.
This came as the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange opened the week with mixed fortunes, with the All Share index gaining marginally to settle at 114,32 points, ahead of the full election results being released yesterday.
At the same time, the Mining Index traded unchanged to close trading at 163,99.
Economists told The Financial Gazette that expectancy for better times ahead had manifested themselves by, among things, the value of bond notes appreciating slightly this week on the parallel market — on hopes of peace, political stability and economic recovery.
A snap survey by the newspaper confirmed that bank transfer rates against the American dollar were at 65 percent, and the same on mobile money transfers — while hard cash exchanges were between 25 percent and 30 percent.
Sifelani Jabangwe, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president, had said they were hoping for a peaceful post-election period — as had been the case during the poll. We want the elections to be credible so that the re-engagement that we have with the rest of the world continues. It is now time to return to work and move forward,” he said.
On the other hand, UK-based analytical-research firm, BMI Research described President Emmerson Mnangagwa — who was poised to retain power — as “a reform minded” leader who was likely to provide Zimbabwe with a sound platform for growth.
The company also saw the country’s fiscal deficit narrowing significantly beginning next year, although it was likely that there would be a brief recession this year, due to the ongoing liquidity crisis.
The past year has seen Zimbabwe’s economy being ravaged by shortages of foreign currency, political uncertainty and a wait-and-see attitude by potential investors, ahead of the just ended elections
Economist Alexander Jones said it was going to be a mammoth effort for economic stability to be restored, adding that Mnangagwa was undoubtedly aware that his political rivals were already beginning to sharpen their knives, ready to hold the president to account should there be little in the way of substantive achievements in the near future.
The business community last month said it would welcome a domestic currency, as an overvalued real exchange rate was damaging the country’s external competitiveness.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it expects a huge collective effort to get Zimbabwe’s economy back on the right track.
The IMF and the World Bank have identified reforming State-owned enterprises such as the National Railways, as a key area of financial reform for Zimbabwe.
“We need to privatise what can be privatised, commercialise those SOEs that can be commercialised,” said economist Prosper Chitambara.
Economic commentator Eddie Cross said it was imperative for the just-ended election to be endorsed by key observers and in order for Zimbabwe to move forward.
“If we fail to get that endorsement then we are in trouble because we need the international community, to at the very least, say it was not perfect … but that the outcome was democratic and acceptable,” he said.
“Only then can we expect the kind of support we need for the new government to begin to repair the damage left behind by Mugabe,” Cross said.
“This is hurdle two. After that we need a credible government and this is going to be more difficult than it might seem,” he added.
“We have to understand that admission to global capital markets and access to low interest, long-term funding that are essential to growth and development is also dependent on a greenlight from the IMF,” the ex-Movement for Democratic Change legislator said.
