via France to resume lending to Zim – DailyNews Live by Pindai Dube 18 MARCH 2014
Direct government to government co-operation between France and Zimbabwe will resume before the end of the year, French Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Laurent Delahousse has said.
Delahousse told a Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) post-election review conference in Bulawayo the donor community was keen to lend support to the Zimbabwe government desperate for funding for its economic turnaround programme.
The Zanu PF government is in desperate need of cash and President Robert Mugabe in December pleaded with the United Nations (UN) to cut development aid to the country through humanitarian organisations and instead direct funding to State coffers for government to finance its programmes.
“The donor community, the European Union in general and my country in particular will continue to lend support to Zimbabwe through the European Development Fund provided the government of Zimbabwe agrees,” Delahousse told delegates.
“We are going to resume direct government to government co-operation with Zimbabwe from the beginning of November if everything goes on well.”
Relations between Zimbabwe and the West turned frosty over human rights abuses, resulting in the latter imposing targeted sanctions on the ruling elite and selected State parastatals and companies linked to them.
Zimbabwe has been failing for years to access funds from the EU and the West owing to the strained relations.
The situation is further worsened by the country’s unserviced debt nearing $10 billion to multilateral finance institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, there has been a thawing of relations as seen by the easing of sanctions in what analysts suggest could be time for better ties and loosening of purse strings.
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has returned empty-handed from fundraising trips to the IMF, World Bank and China.
COMMENTS
The French have not been able to defend their own freedom and independence for the last 200 years. First the revolution where a murderous bunch not unlike our ZANU took to killing citizens left right and center. Then Napoleon who involved them in a generation of war ending in defeat by the British. Napoleon was not even a Frenchman. Then defeat in 1871 when the Germans annexed a good part of their country. Again in 1914 when the Germans destroyed the French army and it was left to the British to save France from utter defeat. Again in 1940 the French surrendered to the Nazi’s loosing the bulk of their country to the Germans after only a token struggle. The French state then helped the Nazis round up Jews, gypsies, black people, and other minorities and send them off to the gas chambers and took up arms against the British and Americans. After the Second World War French cold war diplomacy mainly consisted of attempts to arrange a French surrender to the Russians and to damage NATO as much as they could. Without the repeated efforts of the British and Americans France would not exist as and independent country.
With all of the above in mind one can understand the French position as outlined in the article above.
What made France famous, wine, women, condoms,fashion and all the things ZANU-PF adore!
Like the French they will fall, there will be a Zimbabwean Bastille, very soon.
Let Mugabage and dis-Grace eat cake!
Their birthday and wedding illustrated that!
Let me guess. The French will be sending a batch of Peugeot cars for ZRP. They will buy cars from Peugeot and thus stimulate their economy and the Zimbabwean tax payer will be left with the bill.
I prefer Citroen, very elegant, but like Mugarbage,over-rated!
We know the French are hypocrites .What they do is just to aggravate the English whenever they can. France you are sellouts.
France Has a Hidden Agenda, look at the mess that the former French colonies are in today, so much for “we want to help you”
cheap talk with some sympathetic attitudes
Call it gesturing. We now say the ambassador spoke but in actual fact he wanted to attract attention. Ministers will now flock to the most important man in Harare with offers for land and contracts which the ambassodor can enjoy using. A Zanu Pf Frontier
Please don’t use the ‘Most important man in Zimbabwe’, that is the baboon, the simian and not at all important!
The French are inconsequential!
“Avoir l’esprit de l’escalier”, Ike!
I dont buy the hogwash.
hey guys stop negativity we are tired of comments that are always in a negative direction . wen do we learn to appreciate hope and focus fr future without drawing boundary lines. we have survived disaster we are going for the better soon. lets help each to build the economy. Thanks
Chris, FUTURE, NEGATIVITY, what is that, with Mugarbage, dis-Grace, Bona-non-Fide and Robber Junior, pray tell?
Have you been under a rock these past 35 years?
Your final question, HOW!