Why do China and Russia like Zimbabwe so?

[bobsmithldn]

Er, I don't know the answer, I just thought I'd pose the question.

Minerals.

"The geology of Zimbabwe is very richly endowed. Of the 40 known metals and minerals that it is home to – gold, platinum and chrome form the principal endowments. The country's gold reserves are among the largest in the African region while it hosts the second-largest platinum reserves in the world. Another segment that has caught the attention of miners in Zimbabwe is diamonds after the discovery of a number of significant kimberlites. For a country long saddled with severe economic problems, the mining industry underscores its importance by earning over 40% of the total export revenues for the nation. Like its African peers, Zimbabwe has not been able to derive the full benefits of its myriad resource base."

http://www.businessmonitor.com/mining/zimbabwe.html

[Diver]

Minerals.

"The geology of Zimbabwe is very richly endowed. Of the 40 known metals and minerals that it is home to – gold, platinum and chrome form the principal endowments. The country's gold reserves are among the largest in the African region while it hosts the second-largest platinum reserves in the world. Another segment that has caught the attention of miners in Zimbabwe is diamonds after the discovery of a number of significant kimberlites. For a country long saddled with severe economic problems, the mining industry underscores its importance by earning over 40% of the total export revenues for the nation. Like its African peers, Zimbabwe has not been able to derive the full benefits of its myriad resource base."

http://www.businessmonitor.com/mining/zimbabwe.html

Seemed to do OK when there was a white government?

[Churchill]

Seemed to do OK when there was a white government?

Please can someone point out an African country that is "Doing alright thank you very much for asking"?

[skelm]

Botswana

Thank you.

[DaveB]

It's partially because they are looking for ways to gain favour with the african nations and thus get preferential tratment when it comes to oil and mineral development; partially because they want to flex their muscles at the UN - Russia trying to maintain it's lost superpower status, China trying to establish it's own; and partially becasue as they rightly pointed out, there is no threat to "the maintenance of international peace and security" from Zimbabwe for the UN Security Council to address.

[sasguru]

Please can someone point out an African country that is "Doing alright thank you very much for asking"?

From the wikipedia entry on Botswana:

"Since independence, Botswana has had one of the fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world.[2] Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $16,450 in 2007.[3] Economic growth averaged over 9% per year from 1966 to 1999. The government has maintained a sound fiscal policy, despite consecutive budget deficits in 2002 and 2003, and a negligible level of foreign debt. It earned the highest sovereign credit rating in Africa and has stockpiled foreign exchange reserves (over $7 billion in 2005/2006) amounting to almost two and a half years of current imports."

They've got $7 billion in the bank, we've got a massive deficit.
Gordon Brown is really a laughing stock, when GB is poorer than an African country

[Churchill]

Ladies and Gentlemen of the forum, my question regarding African countries "Doing alright" was a genuine one. I didn't know of any. I do now.

Google wouldn't do too well with the question but you chaps did admirably.

Aye thenk you!

Whoa slow down....

They're not doing so well in certain areas...

What problems do they face?
When David Livingstone visited the Wayeyi in 1857, the people were subjugated as serfs of the ruling Tswana-speaking Batawana tribe. Within the current Botswana constitution, the Wayeyi are still discriminated against, along with over 20 other cultural groups who are outside of the eight main tribes. These ëminor' tribes can be removed from their ancestral land without compensation, cannot elect a leader from their own community and cannot educate their children in their mother-tongue. The Botswana government continues to pursue a policy of assimilating the ëminor' tribes into Setswana culture, denying these peoples equal rights in law. The suspicious death of the Wayeyi Chief Shikati Kamanakao was ënegligently' investigated, according to the forensic report. This caused great distress among the Wayeyi who had taken legal proceedings to get their chief elected and respected on a similar level to the chiefs of the eight major tribes of Botswana. The Wayeyi people still have rulers imposed by a non-Wayeyi chief and their language is still banned from use on radio, education, and other fora. Their history and culture is excluded from the school curriculum.

Another serious problem is that the Botswana government has been trying to convince the Wayeyi to move from the Okavango Delta. The government has given various reasons for the move, but the Wayeyi are determined to stay in their ancestral lands.


'Relocation is a silent genocide on the culture of the people and their economic activities; it ushers them into poverty and dependence.' Lydia Nyati Ramahobo.

Taken from Tribal Genocide?

[skelm]

I doubt any country does well in every area now.

[Churchill]

That's apart from 45% of the population being HIV+ then is it?

At least they're positive, that's the main thing...

Churchill - In "running for coat as fast as little legs will carry him" mode!

[sasguru]

I don't think we should be criticising other countries when our own "dear" government has made an utter shambles of the economy, public services, law and order etc.
In many ways we are now a second world country - and the trend unfortunately is downwards ...