This is a transcript of Robyn Curnow’s interview with Zimbabwe Finance Minister Tendai Biti broadcast on CNN Market Place Africa on Friday the 25th of March at 21h45; Saturday 26 March at 03h45 and 08h15; Sunday 27 March at 09h15.
Robyn Curnow: About 18 months ago we had an interview and I asked you if you had the worst job in the world and you said you did, have things improved?
Tendai Biti: Well I still think the job is horrible, it is the worst job in the world, (Robyn – being the Zimbabwean finance minister) absolutely, but in terms of the impact that the inclusive government has made on our people I think it’s self evident controvertible
Curnow: Absolutely, this year 2011 is going to be critical, on all level, political and on the economic front, but as in Zimbabwe as in anywhere else, I mean those two issues are so intricately linked, how do you see this year playing out? 13:30:30
Biti: I think we need to put a clear demarcation between the vagaries of politics, in the obligation of making people eat, making people have jobs, making people have clean water, making people have good health delivery, making people go to school, we need to put the wall between that
Curnow: When we talk about 2011 have you budgeted for an election this year?
Biti: Well I think the most important thing is clearly the constitutional referendum and we have budgeted for that, it is also important that we create an environment that makes Zimbabwe ready for a free fair in uncontested election,
Curnow: For many people looking in, foreign investors, very nervous about this indigenization bill, which many people see it as just expropriation.
Biti: There’s a lot of mistrust in the Zimbabwean economy, but mistrust comes out of ignorance, you have to understand what you are dealing with and a lot of people don’t understand what they’re dealing with, because there’s a lot of negativity that has jumped out on the internet and in the newspapers. 23:47:22
Curnow: But I think what it boils down to is Robert Mugabe is not helping. At his last speech that I saw, where he’s threatened revenge on foreign companies who came and owned and invested in Zimbabwe, that, I mean, there’s an element of risk in terms of investing, but that is not helpful.
Biti: Well, nobody can deny the fact that Zimbabwe needs to get it’s politics right, which is why an election is inevitable in Zimbabwe, so that part is undisputable, but what is also undisputable is that despite the political, it is still a place where one can actually invest and can actually get good returns,
Curnow: I mean obviously you want to sell your country, you want to say listen, doors are open, come in.
Biti: I’m not underestimating the political difficulties that are still unrest in the country, the uncertainties around the global political agreement, the handover of violence, and all the madness that took place in 2008, I’m not sweeping it under the carpet, and which is why we need a new constitution, which is why we need the rule of law, which is why we need respect for each other, including respect for property rights.
Curnow: One of the things that you’ve been quite verbal about is the issue of diamonds, the Kimberly process and those very controversial Marange diamond fields, how much money did you earn? Did the fiscus earn? From the sale of diamonds in the last year, and was it enough?
Biti: As far as the contribution of diamonds to the Zimbabwean economy, it is still very negligible, last year the direct contribution to the to the coffers was less, was a mere 35 million US dollars, so diamonds are not the El dorado that many people though they would be, part of the problem lies in the illegal smuggling that we think is still happening, and part of the problem lies in the fact that we need the Kimberley process stamp of approval.
Curnow: So the smuggling, this illegal black market in the sale of Zimbabwean diamonds has been said to help facilitate Robert Mugabe’s party?
Biti: Those diamonds are alluvial, so you can literally mine them with a spoon, or the sole of your heel, they have located in a place that is 66 thousand hectares, so that’s you know, half the size of the United Kingdom, so what it means is that there’s porousness, anyone can virtually walk in there, pick stones (Robyn – walk across the border and sell them in Mozambique) and the border is a few minutes away, and this is the longest border, that Zimbabwe shares with any country, the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique is over a thousand kilometers long
Curnow: Do you try to police your own state, because from what I understand, it’s the army and elements of Robert Mugabe’s party that are using the funds from those diamonds, boost their own profits.
Biti: Look I have no evidence of that, but what I can tell you is that this is such a fungible mineral found over a huge space of land, close to a very long border in a very inaccessible mountainous region, so anyone and anybody can smuggle.
So the solution there is not to say we’ve got a problem, the solution is not to blink and to look the problem into the eye and say what is the solution, surely the must be president, we are not the first country to discover diamonds, which is why we want to be part of the Kimberley process certification scheme, we believe we can comply, we believe we can operate consistent within the international standards.
