Last updated in July 2009
Political relations
As a major traditional partner of Zimbabwe, Germany seeks to support the Zimbabwean people even in the current difficult political climate. In the recent past, the German Government has provided substantial humanitarian aid.
Between March 2001 and February 2002, the European Union tried to hold consultations on various issues (human rights violations, politically motivated violence, disregard for the rule of law, land reform and good governance) under the Cotonou Agreement. The Zimbabwean government’s refusal to address the concerns of the European Union brought the consultations to an end in 2002 and also resulted in the imposition of targeted measures against those bearing the main responsibility in government and the ruling party (Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front), such as refusal to grant visas, freezing of foreign accounts, etc. An arms embargo is also in place but economic sanctions have never been imposed on Zimbabwe as a whole. The EU sanctions have been repeatedly extended since 2004, and in some cases actually tightened (for example in July 2008, following the manipulated elections and the wave of terror, and most recently in January 2009). Relations between the EU member states and Zimbabwe have deteriorated considerably as a result. Both the clear words that Federal Chancellor Merkel addressed to President Mugabe during the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon in December 2007 and the decision by a German security printing company to cease delivery of paper used to produce Zimbabwean bank notes in summer 2008 have, in the view of the regime, led to a further cooling off in bilateral relations.
Conversely, the existing Zimbabwean opposition sees Germany as a preferred partner in its plans for the political and economic reconstruction of the country. The formation of a interim government under Prime Minister Tsvangirai in February 2009 has led to a swift intensification of contacts. Since then, even some of the ministers who are ZANU-PF members have shown interest in resuming talks.
Tsvangirai visited Berlin on 15 June 2009 on a tour of Western capitals. He was welcomed by Federal Chancellor Merkel with military honours, later attending a working lunch and holding talks with Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier and Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Wieczorek-Zeul. The German Government declared its willingness to provide transitional aid to Zimbabwe in close consultation with Western donor countries to relieve distress in the country and facilitate the interim government’s efforts to draft a new constitution and subsequently hold free and fair elections.
Economic relations
Zimbabwe is in the midst of a serious economic, largely due to misguided government policy. Since 1998, the economy has shrunk by more than 50 per cent. In an economic climate that was characterized until the spring of 2009 by hyperinflation, a strongly overvalued currency, a shortage of foreign exchange and import restrictions, production and investment were in decline and more and more businesses were forced to close down. Foreign investors are still deterred by the lack of legal certainty and the failure to protect property rights. Despite this difficult climate, Germany remains a major trading partner of Zimbabwe’s, although the economic and social crisis has meant that bilateral trade lags way behind its potential and investment has practically come to a standstill.
In 2008, Zimbabwe exported goods worth EUR 64 million to Germany and imported from Germany goods worth EUR 42 million. For years now, Zimbabwe has recorded a surplus in bilateral trade. German investors are engaged in agriculture (tobacco production, floriculture), tourism, wood processing and textiles. A bilateral investment protection agreement entered force on 14 April 2000. Its implementation remains difficult, especially in the agricultural sector, in the face of political intervention by Zimbabwean government agencies, which also often fail to protect foreign farms from illegal land occupations. The Southern Africa Initiative of German Business (SAFRI), which had launched a number of significant projects in Zimbabwe too, has since suspended its activities there because of the overall situation. And, since 2001, Germany has no longer been represented by a joint exhibition at the annual Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo. Since the interim government was formed in February 2009, there has been renewed German interest in investment, though no concrete projects have yet been implemented.
In November 1999 the German-Zimbabwean Air Transport Agreement entered into force. Lufthansa, however, stopped flights to Harare in November 2000 and provides flight connections to Germany via Johannesburg through cooperation and code sharing with South African Airways.
A double taxation accord exists between Germany and Zimbabwe.
Development cooperation and humanitarian aid
Owing to political developments in Zimbabwe (human rights violations, undermining of the rule of law, lack of a pro-development economic policy and farm occupations and expropriations), no further commitments have been made in development cooperation since 2000. Official German bilateral development cooperation with Zimbabwe was suspended in late June 2002. Seitdem wurden nur noch mit Hilfe eines Entwicklungsfonds Projekte von Akteuren der Bürgergesellschaft gefördert. Until these shortcomings are remedied, Zimbabwe is classed as a ‘prospective partner’ of German development cooperation. In the current situation, projects by civil society agencies are receiving increasing support. By providing humanitarian aid and emergency and transitional relief (food, medicine, etc.) to Zimbabwe’s population, the German Government is seeking to alleviate the distress caused by inappropriate policy. Only recently have new limited aid commitments been made to support pro-reform circles – for example in the water sector, which is the responsibility of local authorities.
Development cooperation with Zimbabwe commenced immediately after the country gained independence in 1980. Since then, Zimbabwe has received a total of approximately EUR 1 billion in bilateral and multilateral development aid. Financial Cooperation (FC), consisting primarily of loans granted on World Bank terms, accounted for approximately EUR 410 million of this sum. Advisory services worth a total of some EUR 128 million were provided as part of Technical Cooperation (TC, mainly by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit - GTZ). Financial Cooperation between Germany and Zimbabwe had focused on the development of the communal lands inhabited by the poorer rural population, encompassing irrigation, the construction of small dams, the maintenance and extension of rural roadways and sanitation. Other important areas of cooperation were education and the private sector.
The work of the German Development Service (DED), which has continued without interruption despite the crisis, focuses on rural development and support for local organizations. The DED is also active in Zimbabwe as part of the Civilian Peace Service.
Despite the above-mentioned restrictions, Germany remains one of Zimbabwe’s most important donor countries. It plays a major role in various special funds, contributing for example nearly EUR 17 million to the Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) fund and EUR 350,000 to the first (analytical) phase of the World Bank’s Multi Donor Trust Fund. During Tsvangirai’s visit to Berlin, EUR 20 million was pledged for this fund’s second (investment) phase.
Cultural relations
A cultural agreement concluded between Germany and Zimbabwe in 1996 came into force in 1998. For decades, German cultural activities have focused on the education sector. Since 1980, more than 200 Zimbabweans have been awarded scholarships enabling them to study at German higher education institutions; some 500 Zimbabwean refugees had previously received such scholarships. In recent years, this support has been confined almost exclusively to so-called sur place scholarships at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare (some 15 annually). For more than a century, numerous members of German Catholic orders have been working in Zimbabwe’s schools, making a lasting mark on the country’s education system and gaining great respect. Despite the poor overall political situation, Germany has continued to participate every year in the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) and the Women’s Film Festival, for which it is held in high regard in Zimbabwe.
