In need of aid

Morgan Tsvangirai’s efforts to get financial aid mean he must persuade the world that Mugabe has accepted change. That could lose him support at home, writes the Financial Times.

Financial Times

Morgan Tsvangirai is putting on a brave face. In search of the financial support Zimbabwe needs to recover from years of catastrophic misrule, he has spent three weeks shuttling between western capitals. He has been warmly welcomed at the highest levels. Yet he returns to Harare with little to show for it.

He has raised $150m in humanitarian aid. But none of this will be channelled through government. This leaves him with the impossible choice of cutting a slender budget and facing industrial action, or raising taxes from businesses suffering diminishing returns. Worse, Mr Tsvangirai’s efforts to persuade global opinion that President Robert Mugabe has accepted change — a prerequisite for aid — is costing him the support he has won back home during many tough years in opposition. …

Foreign donors are confronted with a difficult calculation. If they continue to withhold financial support, Mr Tsvangirai will inevitably fail to transform Zimbabwe’s fortunes. He could emerge a much diminished figure. Yet there is no guarantee he will succeed in marginalising Mr Mugabe, even with a multi-billion-dollar rescue package.