Affirmative Action Group Press Statement on Mining
28 November, 2011
Economic activity has undoubtedly picked up since the introduction of the multi-currency framework but a lot of local business is floundering and local manufactured goods getting uncompetitive because of the non-availability of competitively priced capital.
As the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) it has been our legacy, calling and core mandate to defend local prosperity and pro-actively find new vistas for broadening prosperity for indigenous people and the country at large.
We believe in provoking new thinking around and about the same problems and structural frameworks that confound as a developing country trying to shake off the old traditional economic models meant to feed minority settler economic interests and the attendant dependency that goes with post-colonial economic orders.
To radically show up liquidity, support local economic empowerment efforts while putting us on a sustainable growth trajectory on the back of our winning economic driver-mining we propose the urgent study and introduction of the foregoing-
1) That 10% of all national gold, diamond and platinum production be stockpiled to form a commodity reserve that will anchor the latter introduction of a new convertible currency and other allied trading/investment instruments to unleash our economic potential.
2) This physical tax (10%) would be a much smarter way to entrench local economic empowerment. We don’t get much from the current fiscal regime in place for three strategic minerals as that effectively close most of the loopholes such as can be found in currency exchange factor and movement exigencies.
The new arrangement will replace the existing tax regimes for the three minerals and just effect more payment transparency through the physical movement of commodities to a central custodial arrangement point.
3) There would be an immediate end to the emerging “gaming” of the local empowerment initiatives through the structured delayed benefits to local partners through the invocation of “non-declaration of dividends”.
4) There is great potential in attracting the interest of other regional and continental commodity rich partner countries to make it the ultimate parallel reserve currency outside of the existing dominant currencies that are too exposed to the global debt contagion.
5) The set-up of such a mineral based reserve will spur efforts towards intra-regional/continental trading which often gets emasculated not only by colonial trading arrangements but dominant gross settlement intermediation of third parties outside of Africa.
6) To eliminate any reputational risk associated with any memories from the Z$ meltdown the new “currency” would be called GDP$ (Gold Diamond Platinum Dollar a fairly sovereign neutral and memorable name…). This will add to and work alongside the existing multi-currency-basket.
7) This commodity reserve arrangement will form the foundation the thinking around the mooted Zimbabwe Sovereign Fund. That will immunize the new fund from the shifting tides of international investment sentiments reflected and growing around the dominant trading currencies of the U$, the Euro, the Chinese Yuan among others. Hatichadi zvekuzonyudzwa nevamwe…..
Let the great, open and honest debate over issues of extending prosperity to the broader mass of our people begin
Dr Raymond Chamba
Mr. Phillip Chiyangwa: Founder President
Affirmative Action Group
