Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa, a country that now needs foreign economic assistance to survive, and its south is now the richest country in southern Africa, South Africa, with a GDP of $363.2 billion in 2020, while Zimbabwe has only $20.4 billion, and the two countries have a huge gap in the economy alone.
Although Zimbabwe is now an extremely poor country, in the past, it was the largest and most economically developed country in southern Africa, and it was definitely a big "local tycoon" on the rich side at that time.
Around 1100 AD, a centralized state was formed in present-day Zimbabwe, and 100 years later, the Karenga unified the land and established the Monomontapah Kingdom. While other African countries were still plundering each other in the form of tribes, Zimbabwe's ancestors took the lead in unifying the country and consolidating power, laying a good political foundation for the country's subsequent prosperity.
Due to its location in southern Africa, Zimbabwe's climate is much better than in other African countries. It has a savannah climate with an average annual temperature of only 22 degrees, and even in the hottest month of October, the average temperature is maintained at an acceptable level of 32 degrees.
The 390,000 square kilometers of land, combined with the right climate, makes Zimbabwe no longer worried about whether there is enough food to eat. In addition to food, what can really make Zimbabwe rich is its rich minerals and various scarce natural resources.
According to statistics, Zimbabwe's natural resources are not only diverse, but also have large reserves. The most typical is the coal reserves, reaching a staggering 27 billion tons, and secondly, the iron reserves are also 250 million tons, chromium, asbestos and other major materials for Zimbabwe to earn wealth in foreign trade. The abundance of natural resources also laid the foundation for Zimbabwe to become an industrial power in Africa.
Although Zimbabwe is a typical landlocked country, it is surrounded by Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and other countries and has lost its access to the sea. But their ancestors continued to engage in various trade activities, using a large number of natural resources such as coal, ivory, precious stones, etc. to earn wealth and exchange the goods they needed, after hundreds of years of overland trade, Zimbabwe reached its peak and became a country of wealth famous in Africa.
Zimbabwe, which has been living a comfortable and prosperous life on foreign trade for many years, is one of the most "local tycoons" on the African continent, and is also the largest country in southern Africa at that time. Because the social environment is relatively harmonious, there are few foreign conflicts, the dependence on the army is not high, and the military strength is weak, which laid the groundwork for the later British colonial rule, and it is also the beginning of the impoverishment of this "local tycoon" country.
In the 18th century, the aggressive minions of the European capitalist countries had spread from northern Africa to the south, and the British had long set their sights on Zimbabwe, which was rich but had little military strength, and in the context of the great changes in science and technology at that time, Zimbabwe's rich natural resources became a piece of fat in the eyes of the invaders.
Zimbabwe faced the mighty Britain of the time like a lamb to be slaughtered, watching its enemies plunder its own resources and wealth. Even the name of the country was changed to Southern Rhodesia, which became a British colony.
After a century of struggle, the NLD led by Mugabe finally integrated the domestic power and achieved the unification of state power, and declared independence on April 18 of the same year, and the name of the country was changed from Southern Rhodesia to today's Zimbabwe.
Post-independence Zimbabwe has not fundamentally improved in the country's strength and people's lives, and the glory of its former wealth has not reappeared after independence. To restore its once wealthy pomp, Zimbabwe may have to embark on a more difficult path than independence.
Zimbabwe, which regained its independence and changed its name, began its new way of making money, rich in natural resources in every era. Zimbabwe continues to expand foreign trade, especially tobacco trade, in order to revive the economy, and once became the world's third largest tobacco exporter.
But because of political instability, economic sanctions by Western countries and the impact of the economic crisis, Zimbabwe's economy is almost on the verge of collapse, and even needs foreign economic assistance to survive.
The Zimbabwean government is well aware of the reasons for the decline in the past, so it has made great adjustments in various fields of the country, and in the economy, although it has not given up the sale of natural resources in the country, it is also actively developing industry and agriculture, because Zimbabwe itself has a large number of rare ores such as iron, its own conditions are good, and after more than ten years of development, industrial development has become a leader in Africa.
After adjusting the national development strategy, Zimbabwe seems to be developing in a good direction, but due to changes in the domestic political situation and economic sanctions by Western countries, the economy of Zimbabwe has shrunk to a great extent after the 21st century, because the shortage of fuel, foreign exchange and other resources has seriously affected the daily life of the people.
In 2008, Zimbabwe, which was already in poor economic conditions, suffered a worldwide economic crisis, domestic inflation was unprecedentedly severe, and the relevant economic sectors of the government were paralyzed by the end of the year, even to the point of relying on foreign economic assistance to survive.
At the end of 2017, mnangagwa's government replaced the coalition government as Zimbabwe's new leader and proposed its own plan for the country's economic development, but the situation has not fundamentally improved, and despite the EU's pledge of $32 million in aid, it is clear that a country has not been dependent on foreign economic assistance for long.
Zimbabwe is still facing the threat of COVID-19 when the domestic economy has not yet returned to normal, and it seems that they still have a long way to go to restore their former wealthy lives.