SA and UK major trading partners for Zimbabwe

By Lance Guma
14 December 2005

Zimbabwe’s hypocrisy in its economic dealings came to the fore when its very own Central Statistical Office (CSO) admitted South Africa and Britain remain its major trading partners. Government has been at the forefront of promoting a “look east” policy, and going by Robert Mugabe’s vitriolic attacks on Britain, the fact Zimbabwe relies heavily on the UK for business exposes the double standards.

The Acting Director of the CSO, Moffat Nyoni, told a recent press conference South Africa supplied 57,49% of imports with the United Kingdom accounting for 37%. Much talked about China contributed only 3,95% of imports, with Mozambique providing 3,15%. The look east policy started three years ago but the country is still relying on its traditional markets. 81,37 percent of Zimbabwe’s exports were going to Africa and Europe.

Zimbabwe exported US$ 801million worth of goods in the first 6 months of this year, with US$323 million (about 40,25%) of that going to Europe. The country still has business dealings with the United States (US$ 22 million), while Australia and Canada import goods worth a combined US$ 2,3million. The CSO says the country earned US$ 1,7 billion from trading with both Africa and Europe last year but blames a rise in imports for the lack of foreign currency in the country. Economic analysts however blame the country’s problems on political meddling in the running of the economy.