Harare | President Emmerson Mnangagwa told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Zimbabwe’s economy has been the fastest growing in Southern Africa in the last 3 years. Watch the video below for more.
President Mnangagwa’s claim that Zimbabwe has had the fastest-growing economy in Southern Africa for the past three years has been criticised by some Zimbabweans. Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono compared official statistics and pointed out that Zimbabwe’s economic growth rate is lower than that of Botswana. He said:
President Mnangagwa’s speech writers are making him read lies at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It is not true that Zimbabwe’s economy has been the fastest growing in Southern Africa in the last 3 years as he said yesterday in his speech.
I will juxtapose Botswana to Zimbabwe and look at their annual economic growth from 2020 to 2022. Zimbabwe’s economy only grew by 3% in 2022. Zimbabwe’s neighbour Botswana’s economy grew by 4.2%. Zimbabwe’s economy grew by 8.5% in 2021, Botswana’s economy grew by 11.87%. In 2020 Zimbabwe’s economy grew by -7.92%, so it actually didn’t grow, it shrunk due to Covid.
In 2020 Botswana’s economy grew by -8.73, meaning that it shrunk due to Covid. So it is NOT true that Zimbabwe’s economy was the fastest growing in the last 3 years.
I could have used many countries in the region but it wasn’t necessary. Zimbabwe has the world’s highest inflation rate at 822% and it has 95% unemployment rate.
The speech writers shouldn’t embarrass the president like this, and the president should also read data and not just read speeches with false information that can easily be verified.
According to World Bank data, Zimbabwe’s average growth rate for the years 2020-2022 was 1.350%, while Botswana’s average growth rate was 2.97%.
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