Is Zimbabwe''s Tobacco A ''New Diamond Curse''?

Source from:  The Herald 03/10/2016

Curses don't manifest immediately. It took Zimbabwe about six years for the diamond curse to be acknowledged. The tobacco industry in Zimbabwe is very unique. While the industry grew rapidly in the past 10 years, the regulators who maintain orderly marketing of the crop seem to have lost the plot on how to leverage the true potential arising from growth of this lucrative sector. The discovery of diamonds about a decade ago was largely greeted with a lot of enthusiasm and optimism that the mineral would anchor Zimbabwe's economic development.

The sector was expected to create thousands of jobs, new infrastructural developments, and perhaps quality foreign investors would stampede for a piece of the cake. But as it turned out, all these were trinkets of deception.

Like the diamond industry, predicting gloom and doom in Zimbabwe's tobacco industry may not make sense today in view of the fact that crop production spectacularly rebounded from a low of 50 million kilograms to the current production levels of around two hundred million kilograms.

This spectacular rebound in output can be attributed to a number of factors, key among them the land reform programme which allowed more people to participate in this lucrative industry.

Zimbabwe experienced its lowest tobacco output during a transitional period where agents of tobacco production were changing.

The other major reason why tobacco production rebounded is, unfortunately, the collapse of other vibrant agricultural sectors in Zimbabwe which include cotton, grains, horticulture, livestock, and many others.

Reasons for the demise of these sectors vary, but chief among them is cronyism, poor regulation, particularly for the cotton industry, conflicted regulators, and outright plunder of resources in a manner that eerily resonates with what happened to Zimbabwe's diamonds.

We would not want to believe that the growth of the tobacco industry can be entirely attributed to the regulator, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.

While some want to give credit to the regulator, industry analysts believe it has performed below par in terms of discharging its roles. If fact, they believe a lot can be done.

Curses don't manifest immediately. It took Zimbabwe about six years for the diamond curse to be acknowledged.

The tobacco industry in Zimbabwe is very unique. While the industry grew rapidly in the past 10 years, the regulators who maintain orderly marketing of the crop seem to have lost the plot on how to leverage the true potential arising from growth of this lucrative sector.

Indulging in incest with impunity!

It has been widely speculated and seriously thought that the regulator in one way or the other, could be seriously conflicted with people or companies it regulates. These alleged incestuous relationships could be floundered, and justified with impunity.

And probably this explains why the now defunct Millennium Tobacco Floors were issued with a licence despite clear evidence that they did not qualify. This may also explain the mushrooming of dubious tobacco contractors and buyers whose sole purpose is arbitrage. Enditem