Zambia reaps, Zim lays fallow

The relationship between migrant Zimbabweans and their neighbour to the northwest, Zambia, has generally been mutually beneficial. According to the state-run Zambia Investment Centre (ZIC), Zimbabweans have made business commitments worth more than US$73 million since 2002, creating almost 10,000 jobs.The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, two of the world's leading multilateral lending institutions, estimate that harsh economic conditions may have forced a quarter of Zimbabwe's 12 million people to seek survival elsewhere.Zimbabwe has suffered acute shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency since its fast-track land reform programme began in 2000; housing, education and transport costs have jumped and, according to the IMF, the country has the highest inflation rate in the world. Tony Hawkins, a professor at the Graduate School of Management of the University of Zimbabwe, said recently that until 2002, Zimbabwe was the second largest economy after South Africa in the 14-member Southern African Development Community; now only Malawi and tiny Swaziland and Lesotho are worse off...