Zimbabwe's Mugabe makes rare call to business for partnership

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Africa News

Harare - President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe Friday made a rare call for strong and genuine partnership between his government and the business sector, which is normally a target for his calls against price increases.

The 83-year-old leader made the call in a keynote address to officially open an exhibition of foreign and local businesses at an annual trade exhibition in the city of Bulawayo.

Addressing the southern African country's dire economic problems needed a reformed mindset right across the board, he said.

'It calls, and I repeat, for a strong and genuine partnership between government and the private sector. One that is collaborative rather than adversarial and confrontational,' he said.

The president's conciliatory tone was in stark contrast to his accusation last week that the business sector was behind unjustifiable price hikes in the country, which is currently hit by the world's highest rate of inflation of 2,200 per cent.

In a speech to mark Independence Day on April 18, Mugabe blamed price hikes on unbridled greed among the business sector and called it a strategy by saboteurs to undermine his government.

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence from white minority rule in 1980, and the manufacturing sector has been one of the hardest hit by company closures and reduced capacity.

The cash-strapped country is facing a shortage of more than a million tonnes of the staple maize, and there are acute shortages of foreign currency, fuel and power.

On Thursday the central bank governor unveiled a strategy to lure more foreign currency into the country, by offering those with hard cash 60 times the official rate of exchange.


© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur