By Nathan Guma
ZIMBABWE’S human rights record is weighing on economic growth prospects, with a new report by the United States Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) citing human rights abuses over the country’s ineligibility to join the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a legal framework crucial for assisting the economies of sub-Saharan Africa.
The country has been pulling all stops to reengage with economic powerhouses and has been flagged over failure to implement political, labour and economic reforms while failing to eliminate barriers to U.S. Trade.
The AGOA legislation, which has been benefitting other SADC countries, enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, by allowing US importers to clear goods sourced from eligible African countries.
A report by US trade representative Ambassador Katherine Tai has outlined reasons for Zimbabwe’s ineligibility to join AGOA, citing a host of human rights abuses that include failure to the rule of law while failing to tame rampant corruption.
“Although Zimbabwe committed itself to broad political reforms, it has made little progress and regressed in some areas. This includes amendments to the constitution to consolidate presidential power over Parliament and the judiciary,” it reads.
“Multiple observation missions have expressed deep concerns over the August 2023 presidential elections and stated that the country’s electoral process did not meet regional and international standards for credibility. Rule of law also remains a serious concern.”
The report has also flagged Zimbabwe over state violence against perceived enemies including labor leaders, journalists, and opposition supporters continued during the review period.
“The justice system suffers from political interference, resulting in a culture of impunity within the security sector. Zimbabwe’s judiciary lacks independence and impartiality as judges often use the law selectively to prosecute the ruling party’s political opponents,” it reads.
“The United States continues to maintain targeted sanctions aimed at those who undermine democracy, violate human rights, and engage in public corruption. Zimbabwe ranked 149 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perception Index”
The report has also flagged Zimbabwe’s failure to eliminate poverty, amid indications of continued contraction of formal sector employment, with the informal sector employing an estimated 80% of the working population.
“The agriculture sector still fails to meet its enormous potential due to the GOZ’s “Fast Track Land Reform” of the 2000s, which allowed for the violent seizure and uncompensated confiscation of thousands of commercial farms and displaced hundreds of thousands of farm workers. Food insecurity persists annually, the severity of which largely depends on weather patterns,” it reads.
Zimbabwe has also been under fire for child labour, with the US Department of Labor flagging it for having made a minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.
“High-level officials within the GOZ and the ruling political party interfered with a delegation representing worker and civil society organizations to investigate concerns of child labour occurring at a commercial farm, sending party activists to the farm to threaten and intimidate the delegation,” reads the report.
More findings have shown a decrease in freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively in line with constitutional provisions.
“Sometimes violent repression, anti-union discrimination, and harassment of unions and unionists by government actors is common. Other concerns include restrictions on free expression and media, interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly, lack of accountability for gender-based violence, and government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations,” it reads.
“According to the criminal code, any consensual act between men that would be regarded as “indecent” by a reasonable person carries a fine, one year of imprisonment, or both if convicted.
During 2022, LGBTQI+ organizations reported several arrests and state-sanctioned violence targeted at members of their community.”
The report has also flagged the country’s failure to implement economic reforms including failure to eliminate barriers to U.S. Trade.
“Although the Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) continued to rein in its budget deficit during the reporting period, the central bank’s missteps in the form of high money supply growth led to high inflation and currency depreciation,” reads the report.
“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe continued to engage in quasi-fiscal operations, including printing money and taking loans, contrary to guidance from international financial institutions.
Zimbabwe’s physical infrastructure has deteriorated significantly over the last two decades due to lack of investment but remains operable.”
AGOA benefits to Sadc region countries
South Africa was the second-largest AGOA exporter in 2023, behind Nigeria, and was the largest exporter of non-crude oil products ($3.6 billion in 2023), supplying a broad set of products including passenger vehicles, yachts and catamarans, precious jewellery, chemicals, and citrus fruit under AGOA.
Other countries, Madagascar and Angola were the next largest exporters under AGOA in 2023, with a total trade of US$339 million and US$260 million respectively.
Kenya, Madagascar, and Lesotho were significant suppliers of apparel under AGOA in 2023.
AGOA imports in copper and related articles were pegged at US$95 million, mainly from Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa.
Other leading AGOA import categories in 2023 include ferroalloys (US$300 million), precious jewellery (US$258 million), cocoa products (US$202 million, mainly from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire), miscellaneous inorganic chemicals ($146 million), citrus fruit ($132 million), certain organic chemicals ($100 million),
In 2023, U.S. AGOA imports totalled $9.3 billion, down 4% from $9.6 billion in 2022 and more than double 2020 values, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This upward trend in imports was mainly driven by increased imports of crude oil. In 2023, Nigeria was the largest source of imports under AGOA ($3.8 billion) and a major supplier of crude oil ($3.6 billion in 2023, up from $1.2 billion in 2021),” it reads.
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