By Jonathan Maphenduka
THE catastrophic results of the Covic-19 pandemic, which continues to ravage the world cannot be determined at this stage.
However, it is clear that one does not need a crystal ball to foresee that many economies, especially those in Africa, cannot survive the devastating onslaught of the pandemic.
The world’s largest economy, the United States of America, had by April 14 recorded a staggering death toll of over 10 000, mostly in New York, the world’s epicentre of the pandemic. All this has happened amid growing acrimonious differences between Donald Trump and the rest of the world.
He is a stubborn and arrogant bully, who is now telling federal states to toe his line or be damned, amid growing differences with other world leaders on a wide spectrum of issues wherein the world should be working together.
On the economic front, here in Zimbabwe the people are faced with a catastrophe of unusual proportions, in the midst of uncertainty regarding the economic life of the country, which was already working far below capacity of its full potential.
While the lockdown announced by government recently remains in force to protect public health and government energies are focused on grappling with the pandemic, very little attention is being focused on the economy, while the bulk of economic activity has been negatively affected on a catastrophic scale.
Against this backdrop, the social distancing decree cannot be expected to work to the desired level for many reasons. It becomes clear that optimum level of social distancing shall never be achieved. Those who find themselves in queues for life’s essentials do keep the required distance between themselves, but when they enter a food outlet find themselves (without any choice) rubbing shoulders with total strangers in a fashion which is common only to honeymooners.
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There the social distancing requirement is kept at bay for the period that one must remain in the food outlet. The law finds itself having to endure this rather infectious atmosphere because must put food on the table.
But how are supermarkets coping with the challenge of putting foodstuffs (especially imported items that one sees in an average Zimbabwean outlet) on their shelves? We don’t know because this (I suppose) is a trade secret. I don’t know about that. One cynic, however, assured me: “Supplies are hoarded to justify new prices every day,” he said.
Well, I still don’t know about that because there is a local currency connection to all this, but I’m not close to Mthuli Ncube who has the answer to all the financial shenanigans.
But on a more serious note, does anyone know what will happen to Zimbabwe’s economy if the lockdown down is extended (and this is almost certain) beyond next week?
l Jonathan Maphenduka can be contacted on 0772 332 404
