China's economic engagement in Zimbabwe: partnership of fishing in troubled waters

Abstract

From the early 2000’s until present, the Sino-Zimbabwe relations have been marred with controversy and grievances from the Zimbabwean public about the negative ramifications of China’s investments in Zimbabwe. After the international community’s condemnation of Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, elections irregularities and human rights violations by the Mugabe administration the West imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe with the hope of bringing regime change and good governance in Zimbabwe. With East Asian countries left as one of the few states willing to do business with the Southern African country, the Robert Mugabe administration came up with the ‘Look East Policy’ which would see Zimbabwe reviving its historical diplomatic ties particularly with China. While this study does not repudiate the negative impacts of the Chinese presence in Zimbabwe, it argues that there are positives that can be from the East Asian giant’s economic engagement. After being seen as prolonging Mugabe’s stronghold on power for a long time, China was implicated for being influential in the coup de tat that led to the ousting of the Zimbabwean President after 37 years in power. These allegations render the Zimbabwean bureaucracy as lacking agency of making political decisions. The continuation of the relationship between China and Zimbabwe under the new President is testimony that the positives of the Chinese investments in Zimbabwe might have been hindered by erstwhile administration under Robert Mugabe