Categories: Stories

Ziscosteel, Chinese investors and Zimbabwe’s poor record for negotiating investment deals

Anderson Chiraya, an official in the Office of the President and Cabinet, earlier this year revealed why the government always fails when negotiating big deals: others bring their experts to the table, while Zimbabwe sends in politicians.

“During negotiating for such deals, some partners came with a barrage of lawyers, while on our part, there may be a minister and the permanent secretary only and if they do not understand, we get a raw deal,” Chiraya told a group of journalists in May.

“Yet the other parties come with lawyers and people that are well versed.”

If this latest “mega deal” interest in Zimbabwean steel is to deliver something real for a change, something will have to change in the way the government negotiates deals on resources.

Even in its desperation, the government has to make sure it carves out a deal that benefits Zimbabwe.

Until then, the pack of baboons will remain at Zisco’s HR office, the desperation of former workers will deepen, and the pile of rust that is Zisco will remain standing, a stark monument to the government’s failure to act while it could.

Continued next page

(658 VIEWS)

This post was last modified on August 31, 2017 9:43 am

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Developer gives 80-year-old plot holders 5 days to vacate plots they bought 45 years ago

In what appears to be an act of desperation, the developer of Irene Township in…

June 15, 2025

Zimbabwe central bank says there is enough ZiG to meet current and future demand

Zimbabwe’s central bank says there is enough ZiG, the country’s local currency, to meet current…

June 14, 2025

Joke of the day

What is politics “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing…

May 24, 2025

British MP says dangerous foreign criminals must not be protected

A British legislator Chris Philp says the country’s Human Rights Law must be amended to…

May 24, 2025

Joke of the day

Darling let’s go A tall, good looking girl who had just left college asked her…

May 23, 2025

Zimbabwe has the third most expensive diesel in Africa

Zimbabwe has the third most expensive diesel in Africa after Malawi and the Central African…

May 23, 2025