Zimbabwe received a donation of 200, 000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from China, just a few hours after Valentine's day. While the gift is free, it is unclear how much Zimbabwe will pay for the second batch of 600,000 doses set to arrive in March.
"Zimbabwe is one of the first African countries to receive the Sinopharm doses from China after Equatorial Guinea and Egypt received their parcels a bit earlier" said China's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Guo Shaochun.
Zimbabwe faces an uphill task in mobilising financial and non-financial resources in order to combat the spread of Covid-19. As usual, China has made tremendous efforts in assisting her friend fight the pandemic.
Based on an incomplete count, donations coming from China have amounted to more than 1 million masks, 51 000 testing kits and 140, 000 pieces of other types of Personal Proactive Equipment - that's China for you.
Zimbabwe was the first country from sub-Saharan Africa to receive a team of medical experts from China that conducted exchange workshops with health professionals in Zimbabwe.
The Chinese business community has donated food hampers and medical supplies to the needy and most importantly, the companies invested over US$500, 000 for the rehabilitation of Wilkins Hospital in Harare, the country's main isolation and treatment center for Covid-19.
"Zimbabwe has been in a crisis mode since the 21st Century and as such, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic has added an extra burden to the country that is already cracking under mounting weight of external debt peonage, fiscal deficit, liquidity crisis, international isolation among many other social and economic ills".
The Covid-19 pandemic landed on the back of Cyclone Idai which left 270, 000 people homeless in 2019, a sovereign debt of over US$20 billion and a devastating drought that has left millions of Zimbabweans (Zimbos) food insecure.
Zimbabwe has experienced major setbacks in the presence of a cozy relationship with China since the enactment of the Look East Policy in 2003. The country has been running on a fiscal deficit driven by government's excessive spending.
The extravagant expenditure includes subsidies for supporting farmers through Command Agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme, subsidized urban public transport through the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) and garrison shops for the security services.
The other obstacle is that, Zimbabwe remains incapable of accessing resources from International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because the country's external debt is high and largely in arrears.
Despite the problem of external debt, Zimbabwe's financial woes are further aggravated by domestic debt, blatant corruption, illicit financial flows, money laundering and externalization.
All these problems have significantly reduced the levels of resources available to the country to finance its development objectives including preparations for national disasters such as the Coronavirus.
The Chinese have over the years rescued Zimbabwe in many situations, I mean, these two are "all-weather friends", that's how they play. However this time around, the rescue mission has come after a series of scandals.
Firstly, it was a Chinese employer who allegedly shot and injured two Zimbos over a wage dispute in Gweru last year, and later that year, two Chinese firms were banned to explore for coal at the Hwange National Park.
"Whatever we damage - we control. China had to come up with a cover-up strategy; that's what ambassadors are deployed to do on foreign soil".
Zimbabwe is lucky to have received a gift on valentine's day, its a sign of a healthy relationship. Be that as it may, some political commentators have criticized China for her "Coronavirus diplomacy".
Over 200 Chinese nationals in Zimbabwe with various vulnerabilities traveled back home in a charter flight in what was seen as China's emergency response action against an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Zimbabwe.
While Ambassador Shaochun spoke highly about China's work in Zimbabwe, the former is not loyal, typical of most partners who are in relationships today. China does not have faith in her partner's medical standards, I wonder if Zimbos have confidence in the Valentine vaccine.
@stajicesimmz