Lessons for Zimbabwe from the Europe debt crisis

Tim Jones blog on a new briefing with the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development on the Eurozone debt crisis and the lessons to be learned.

Over the last few months I have been working with our allies in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), to try to understand where the Southern African country’s financial debt to the rest of the world comes from. ZIMCODD are calling for an audit of the debt, which would help shed light on how foreign loans have and have not helped the Southern African country. Later today I head off to Zimbabwe to discuss more about where the debt comes from and what to do about it.

But for ZIMCODD, one of the other key questions is understanding the debt crisis which has engulfed Europe, and what this means for Zimbabwe and other southern countries.

We have therefore also worked with ZIMCODD to produce a new briefing for Zimbabweans to understand the European debt crisis and lessons it can teach. Lessons including the way unregulated private lending can create debt crises for the public, or the dangers of using foreign rather than domestic funds for investment.

Of course, there are many lessons Southern countries experience of debt – including Zimbabwe – can teach European countries. In June a conference was held in Athens - Debt and austerity: From the Global South to Europe – with activists from Peru, the Philippines, Brazil, Morocco and Zimbabwe sharing their experience with Greek and Irish compatriots.

A common theme is the call for debt audits – not seeing debt as numbers never to be challenged, but seeking to understand what loans and debt have meant for people and communities.

The Liberal Democrats have said that if in power they would audit the £2.4 billion said to be owed by developing country governments to the UK. Debts owed by countries such as Egypt – inherited from Hosni Mubarak, or Indonesia – inherited from General Suharto. And £190 million said to be owed by Zimbabwe.

Well, the Liberal Democrats are now in power, with Vince Cable in charge of the department most of the debt is owed to. Why not write to Vince reminding him of what the Liberal Democrats have pledged to do.