SA Times
Moses Mudzwiti
August 14, 2009

ZIMBABWE Education Minister David Coltart said yesterday that poor villagers could continue to pay school fees with goats, chickens and other animals.

He was quizzed in Parliament on the government’s position on the acceptability of schools demanding fees in cash and kind.

Coltart said there was nothing wrong with such a system, provided parents agreed to it with school authorities.

He said his department needed US95-million to run smoothly, but the government had no money.
Zimbabwe generates only US70-million a month from duties and taxes.

Coltart said the money was essential if important school examinations were to be written on time and the results released on time.

Teachers have threatened strike action if their salaries are not improved.

Doctors and nurses at most hospitals are on strike and there is no likelihood of a return to work soon.

SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
12 August 2009

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has said too many centres of power in the education ministry are behind the problems bedevilling the sector at present. The PTUZ says it is very bitter because the government has still not addressed the challenges facing teachers, despite their many productive meetings with Minister David Coltart.

The PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou told SW Radio Africa that the Permanent Secretary, Dr Steven Mahere who is a former trade unionist, has been reversing decisions made by his Minister.

PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe alleged that the major problem is that while agreements are made with Coltart, Dr Mahere and others in the Public Service Commission refuse to follow instructions.

The group said when schools opened in March, Minister Coltart agreed with the unions to give amnesty to teachers who had failed to return to work during last year’s crippling strikes. But according to Zhou and Majongwe this has now been reversed by the Permanent Secretary, who is calling for a security vetting system. It is feared this will group the teachers who failed to return to work, along partisan lines, resulting in some of them losing their jobs forever.

The PTUZ also claims that the notorious youth militia are still being allowed to terrorise teachers, in spite of a letter written by Coltart calling for the removal of the youths from schools. Majongwe says there is still no movement on this and violence is continuing and the Border Gezi trained youths are still being allowed to teach ‘distorted history’ in many of the rural schools.

Last Friday the MDC sent out a statement saying soldiers and the youth militia living at Vhumbunu Primary School in Mutasa Central, were ‘harassing and torturing innocent villagers.’ Teachers at the school were allegedly being forced to share accommodation with the rowdy youths.

Majongwe asked: “Zimbabwe needs qualified teachers, why would we be stuffing our schools with unqualified and unemployable goons and youths who are bussed into our schools from training camps and torture camps as if we want to perpetuate the hegemony of violence on to our children, and yet we have qualified personnel?”

The outspoken Secretary General said this is a continuation of the disastrous political process that destroyed the education sector, but is still being repeated in spite of the formation of the inclusive government. He said the worst thing is that the Minister is not receiving support from his administrator, who has become the politician.

Majongwe said: “The sticking point is the Permanent Secretary Dr Steven Mahere, who treats himself as a larger than life character. He is obviously doing things his way. He is supposed to complement Minister Coltart but he is undoing everything else that the unions and the Minister have agreed upon.”
“And I think if there is any other reason that teachers are going to go on strike it is because of the conduct of Dr Steven Mahere and many other little Maheres who are found in district and provincial education offices – who think that it is only Mahere who can determine the pace and progress in the Ministry.”

We were not able to get a comment from Dr Mahere.

Sunday News
9th August 2009
By Lulu Brenda Harris

The number of boys enrolling for education after primary school is declining in Matabeleland South as most of them skip the border to neighbouring countries while others are going into gold panning, an official has said.

The Provincial Education Director (PED), Mrs Tumisang Thabela, told Sunday News at a World Vision medical and textbook handover ceremony at Filabusi Country Club in Insiza last week, that secondary schools in the province were recording less male pupils compared to those who would have completed primary school the previous year.

Mrs Thabela said she was concerned about the decline in the number of Form One boys in secondary schools. She said children needed to be looked after as they were key to the country’s recovery.
Mrs Thabela said in Bulilima, while there were 1 770 boys in Grade Seven classes in 2008, only 1 259 proceeded to Form One this year.

At the same time, in Beitbridge, there were 1 414 Grade Sevens, 1 259 students proceeded to Form One.In Insiza, there were 2 126 Grade Sevens in 2008 and only 1 606 proceeded to Form One this year.

She said the trend has been going on mostly in areas near border towns where boys move to the neighbouring countries.

However Mrs Thabela said the dropout was not as pronounced for girls compared to boys. She said there was need to address the issue of gender equality in schools as a recent survey showed that more boys were dropping out of school before they had the chance to attend high school.

“The Government came up with eight millennium development goals and they chose to specialise on three, three years ago. These were food security, alleviation of HIV/AIDS and gender equity. “What is of concern is that the boy child appears to be neglected. We have been going around the schools in Matabeleland South and we realised that in three areas of Beitbridge, Matobo and Bulilima and Mangwe there is reduced number of Form One boys enrolled at the schools,” she said.

Mrs Thabela said that she has been told that boys found the easy way across the border and others venture into gold panning.

Mrs Thabela emphasised that there was need for these issues to be addressed and education is one of them. “The government realises the future is vested in the children and there is a great need to invest in their education,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Matabeleland North PED, Mrs Buithelelo Mguni, said although she had no statistics on the trend in her province there were more girls who registered for the Ordinary Level examinations.
“In Chemistry there are 31 girls compared to two boys and there are more who registered for English, Mathematics and Ndebele, while there were more boys in Technical Graphics, Metal Work and Woodwork,” she said.

The Minister for Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said the drop in enrolment, as students move from primary school to secondary school was worrying. He said there was a huge gap between children at primary school and those enrolling at secondary school as parents were struggling to raise school fees.

“This applies to both boys and girls. In the past it used to be girls. It’s a very worrying development and that is why we have to make education affordable. For us another priority is to identify talented children so that they do not fall out of the system,” he said.

30 July 2009
The Herald

HARARE -The Herald newspaper was at the weekend forced to eat humble pie and retract a story in which it accused MDC ministers of absconding from official duty during the COMESA summit held early this month in Victoria Falls.

Nelson Chamisa: “We call for facts to be thoroughly checked.”

The paper carried an anonymously written retraction on Saturday apologising to the MDC for the falsehoods it published. The withdrawal served to fuel long-held suspicion that the paper is used by Zanu-PF officials to tarnish the image of the party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Herald had carried the story under the headline “MDC-T snubs Summit delegates”.

The retraction read: “We retract the story we published on June 8, 2009 under the headline ‘MDC-T snubs Summit delegates. It has since emerged that there was a communication breakdown with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.

“Any inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted.”

The withdrawal statement which was written by an unidentified person at the paper was tucked away on the second page of the paper’s Saturday issue, where it was much less prominent than the original story.
The MDC responded by saying the paper should henceforth desist from the practice of seeking to besmirch the character of it officials and carry out its public mandate in a professional manner.

“The retraction is consistent with the circumstances which were present when the summit took place.

Yes, there are some MDC officials who failed to attend the summit for various personal reasons but their failure was not a collective MDC position, therefore, we view the Herald story as a deliberate attempt to besmirch and tarnish the image of MDC officials in various positions in government,“ said Nelson Chamisa, MDC party spokesperson.

“We call for facts to be thoroughly checked before stories are published.”

In the story carried by The Herald, the impression was created that all MDC officials had absconded from performing their assigned duties at the COMESA (Common Market for East and Southern Africa) summit. According to the procedures of the COMESA summit, selected ministers were asked to act as guides for the heads of state who attended the summit. For example Zanu-PF’s Youth Secretary and Minister of Youth Saviour Kasukuwere was attached to the Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al Bashir.

Kasukuwere travelled with the International Criminal Court-blacklisted leader on his chartered Air Zimbabwe flight to Victoria Falls and back to Harare.

Despite Herald’s accusations, there were several MDC ministers at the summit in Victoria Falls. Ministers such as Henry Madzorera, Health and Child Welfare Minister, Jameson Timba, Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity, Evelyn Masaiti, Deputy Minister of Women and Gender Affairs and David Coltart of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture were a permanent feature at the Victoria Falls Airport as they ushered the numerous heads of state who attended the COMESA summit in Victoria Falls.

The MDC has since the formation of the all-inclusive government complained about shoddy coverage of its activities by The Herald.

The most recent example of the negative coverage was the treatment of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s visit to Europe and the United States of America. The Herald routinely published articles aimed at tarnishing his image under headlines such as “Obama-Tsvangirai head for a clash’’, “Dutch snub Tsvangirai” and “Political goblins in driving seat.”

The Herald
28 July 2009

GOVERNMENT has called for local authorship of books following a decline in the publications written and published in local languages.

In a speech read on his behalf by Secretary for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Dr Stephen Mahere at the official opening of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair Indaba yesterday, Minister David Coltart said the shortage of local publications has denied children the opportunity to enjoy books written in their mother language.

“Children have a right to enjoy what they read and what is read to them. I am therefore calling upon you to write novels, stories, poems and jingles for the Zimbabwean child,” he said.

Minister Coltart said it was also Government policy to enhance and increase capacity of individuals by using education materials locally produced in school curriculum.

“My ministry has been restructured to reconstitute and strengthen the curriculum development unit with a total of 35 materials production officers in languages, humanities, science and vocal technical subjects to encourage local authorship.”

He said the ministry was a major user of books when developing individuals.

“To this end, Government is in the process of resuscitating and strengthening the National Library and Documentation Services so that it can monitor the delivery services throughout the country,” he said.

Mr Coltart said a new council for the NLDS was appointed and has already started work.

He said Government, with a number of its social partners, embarked on a campaign to ensure that pupils have basic textbooks in the core subjects.

“This will create independent learners in pupils and enhance quality education delivery.”

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair which is an annual event draws its participants from local and international writers to promote dialogue and rights exchanges between writers.

ZimOnline
By Lizwe Sebata
27 July 2009

BULAWAYO – A special parliamentary committee leading Zimbabwe’s constitutional reforms wants top officials of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party prosecuted for disrupting a conference to discuss the reforms two weeks ago, one of the committee’s chairmen Douglas Mwonzora said at the weekend.

Mwonzora, from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party, said video evidence compiled by the committee and showing ZANU PF legislators disrupting the conference would be handed over to Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and to the police.

“We have complied videos and disks which will be used as evidence during the prosecution of the legislators and other people who disrupted the conference . . . the days of lawlessness have to come to an end,” said Mwonzora, addressing a meeting to discuss constitutional reforms in the city of Bulawayo.

It was not immediately clear whether ZANU PF was in agreement with Mwonzora that its members should be prosecuted for disrupting the conference.

The representative of Mugabe’s party on the three-man team chairing the constitutional reform process, Paul Mangwana, was not available for comment on the matter.

David Coltart, the other chairman from Mutambara’s MDC party on the committee was also not available for comment on the matter.

However Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara speaking soon after abandonment of the conference indicated that no action would be taken against those who had caused the conference to flop on its first day.

Some senior ZANU PF officials, war veterans and the party’s militant youth wing broke up the conference on July 13, insisting it could not go ahead unless delegates sang the national anthem first.

The conference only resumed the next day after Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara spoke strongly against the mobs that had disrupted the first day of the meeting that had been called to map out the course of constitutional reforms.

Zimbabwe is on a programme to write a new constitution that should lead to the holding of free and fair elections in about 24 months.

Zimbabweans hope a new constitution will guarantee human rights, strengthen the role of Parliament and curtail the president’s powers, as well as guaranteeing civil, political and media freedoms.

The new constitution will replace the current Lancaster House Constitution written in 1979 before independence from Britain. The charter has been amended 19 times since independence in 1980.

Critics say the majority of the amendments have been to further entrench Mugabe and ZANU PF’s hold on power.

Zimbabwe Guardian
By Ralph Mutema
27 July 2009

THE Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe has slammed Finance Minister Tendai Biti for failing to recognize the importance of teachers in his latest mid-term budget statement.

In a statement released to the Zimbabwe Guardian PTUZ said they “feel highly disturbed that the Minister of Finance presented the Mid-term Fiscal Policy without engaging teacher unions.”

The union, which is an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said Biti behaved like “Father Christmas” giving ‘handout’ to teachers.

“We do not tolerate the doctrine of state paternalism where government behaves as Father Christmas.

“Teachers are not children of the government; they are partners who should be consulted whenever decisions which affect them are being made,” read the statement.

The militant teachers’ union said the additional USD150 million budgeted by Biti for government is “unacceptably too low”.

“The decision to convert the allowances into salaries with scale differentials is against the concept of shared misery. This will advantage those in managerial posts … and disadvantage the majority of workers like teachers who had no hand in the collapse of the economy.”

PTUZ demanded that all civil servants should be paid an “equal and deductible allowance” to help cover medical and other policies and to raise them above the Poverty Datum Line (PDL).

“In line with the doctrine of shared misery, we demand that all public servants be paid an equal and deductible allowance for the purposes of funeral and medical policies up to a time when government can pay salaries above the PDL.”

The Union also called on the Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture, David Coltart to implement Article VII clauses 7.1 (c) and (e) where the minister agreed to either reinstate or reappoint teachers who left the profession due to economic and political circumstances.

The teachers who sought reappointment have remained unpaid since February 2009.

“They are now being ‘charged’ and getting ‘fired.’ After these rituals, they are asked to reapply, undergo ‘security vetting’ and ‘medical examination’.

“Imagine teachers who ran away from violence being asked to do all this. They are now suspected criminals and suspected ill persons,” read the statement issued by Raymond Majongwe, PTUZ Secretary General.

Sunday Mail
By Mtandazo Dube
26 July 2009

ALTHOUGH there has been a cash injection by the Culture Fund, this year’s Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF), which kicks off tomorrow and ends on Saturday, could still lack the glitz and glamour of yesteryear due to financial constraints.

The money received from the Culture Fund, although well meant, is a paltry drop in the ocean for a book fair that now has to compete with other well funded fairs like the recently ended Cape Town Book Fair.

ZIBF received US$10 000 from the Culture Fund to resuscitate the literature exhibition, which was at the brink of collapse, but the acting director, Greenfield Chilongo, fears the money is way too little and can only help them carry out the basics.

The organisers agree that this amount is the epitome of the biblical five loaves and two fish, which will take another very holy miracle to transform into a meaningful event.

“This money that we received is not enough to cover our budget, but we are still very much happy with the little that we got, because it will go a long way in making this year’s exhibition better than it would have been without the money.

“We have been saved because stakeholders would have sacrificed a lot more if we had not received this money, therefore, it is important that we recognise the fact that the Culture Fund has tried to do everything they can to assist,” said Chilongo.

ZIBF used to be the largest and most important book fair in sub-Saharan Africa, held annually during the first week of August in the Harare Gardens before losing its lustre and finally failing to take place altogether.

The fair has now become a distant memory in the minds of former enthusiasts and the organisers may well need a separate US$10 000 to dole out to fair goers to pursuade them to attend as interest in the fair has all but waned!

To begin with, even in the Book Fair’s best of days, it made the headlines for an abstract annual dissembling and running riot of fair goers who disapproved of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe’s (GALZ) exhibition rather than for attracting mature debate and names around the theme of books around which it was woven. This year threatens to bring nothing new.

However, Chilongo says even though ZIBF may not live up to the standards set before, he is sure that the literature exhibition will eventually reclaim its place as the best and most important book fair in Southern Africa.
“There is no doubt that we will get back to the top, it is just a matter of when. I have been to the Cape Town Book Fair and let me say I have my reservations about the way they conduct their exhibition.

“It is quite big and glamorous, which is a plus, but it lacks that African touch that we have.

“It is like a European festival in Africa and that is not what we want in an African book fair.

“Many people may say most of our exhibitors and sponsors have left us for the Cape Town Book Fair, but I doubt that very much because most of our former participants are itching to come back,” he said.

The theme for this year is “Reading and Writing, Zimbabwe”, which Chilongo described as centred on encouraging authors on writing literary works focusing on national issues rather than having local readers relying on international books.

“We want people to understand the country from a literature point of view. The use of such techniques as satire and irony is a rich way of disseminating important information about the country.

“We are, therefore, calling on writers and exhibitors to come up with products that embody the situation on the ground.”

He said this year’s book fair was aimed at offering local authors more prominence as compared to foreign ones.

Some of the local authors expected to grace this year’s edition, include Shimmer Chinodya, Ignatius Mabasa, Charles Mungoshi, Chirikure Chirikure and Virginia Phiri, among many others.

The Minister of Education Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, will officially open the book fair and Professor Hope Sadza, the Vice-Chancellor of Women’s University in Africa, will give the keynote address.

Several topics have been lined up for the discussions at the Indaba session and these include media reading and writing, which will probe issues centred on the presentation of media stories.

Chilongo said unlike in previous years, there would be free entrance for the public to the fair this year.

The first three days of the festival will see acclaimed regional literary figures leading a number of workshops before the exhibition opens to the public on July 29.

ZimEye.org
By Fortune-Galangwe
24 July 2009

The Zimbabwe economy is showing signs of life commensurately with the Prime Minister’s European trip which hit a brick wall where he met with European heads of state lobbying them for aid. The dollarization of the economy put an end to hyperinflation, artificial interest rates and unrealistic exchange rates. The liberalization of the economy has created an environment where any business can thrive.So the minister of Finance Tendai Biti has presented the much awaited Mid-Term Policy Review Statement on 16 July 2009 to Parliament which sent a frigid feeling in the spines of various sectors of society.Players on the production side let out a deep a sigh of tax relief as the Import Duty on most raw materials was scrapped while the Duty Free on the importation of basic commodities was extended to December 31 this year.

BACK TO THE OLD SHIP

Prices of basic commodities has suddenly skyrocketed again amid expectations that the ailing economy is heading for better .Retailers have raised the prices the prices of most basic commodities between 10% and 60%.In March a green laundry bar costs between $0,50 and $0,60 in most retail shops but the same commodity costs between $1,10 and $1,40 as we speak in most retail shops. The Minister of Finance Tendai Biti revealed that he has extended the Duty Free on the Importation of basic commodities to December 31 this year in his fiscal pronouncement .The Finance Minister also scrapped the Import Duty on raw materials to increase local production when he presented The Mid-Term Policy to Parliament on the 15 0f July 2009.Biti’s prescription is expected to reduce the skyrocketing of basic commodities in Zimbabwe.

Retailers have attributed continual price increases in basic commodities to the firming of the Rand against the United States Dollar .Since the dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy most retail shops are purchasing their stock from South Africa as the local industry production is still below to satisfy the retail industry. The retailers complain that the South African suppliers are offering them an unfavourable low exchange rate when they purchase their orders from them.

The retailers have resorted to the continual price hikes of most imported basic commodities if their shops are to remain viable. However, the retail industry is still obsessed by the spirit of the hyperinflationary ghost of earning super profits overnight .Biti has ordered the retailers to desist from increasing the prices of basic commodities whenever the salaries of civil servants are reviewed. Banks have also increased withdrawal charges between US$1-US$4 per single transaction and monthly charges had been pegged between US$8-US$13. However, only 7 out of 18 Zimswitch banks are now active and processing US$ denominated transactions since the adoption of the multiple currency economy.

THE MYSTERY OF THE ZIMBAWEAN DOLLAR

The Zimbabwean dollar ceased to be legal tender in February this year when the economy was dollarised. In March this year Minister of Finance Tendai Biti declared that the Zimbabwean dollar was moribund and would not be revived very soon as it was detrimental to the economy. The Minister of Economic Planning and Development Elton Mangoma also added his voice in dismissing the local currency as legal tender in the dollarised economy of Zimbabwe. He told a Mining Conference in the United Kingdom that the revival of the local currency would scare away foreign investors who would want to initiate businesses in Zimbabwe.

However, since the inception of the dollarised economy ,the Zimbabwean dollar is still accepted “as legal tender” in most commuter where it plays a pivotal role of curbing the change problem among the passengers. Only the Bearer cheques of the old Z$50 billion denomination are accepted “as legal tender” by the Kombi conductors and Touts where they use “an exchange rate” of Z$3,6 Trillion to US$1.

The Finance Minister has announced the demonetization of the Zimbabwean dollar with effect from “the 15 July 2009“.He also revealed that the government had set aside US$6 million to get rid of remnants of the local currency. He assured that the local currency would be reintroduced at a later stage when the economy improves.

ADDING SALT TO THE HEALING WOUND

The scarcity of fuel and its continual price increases in Zimbabwe has ignited price hikes of most basic commodities in the retail industry and fares in the transport sector. Most service stations in Harare are selling petrol at US$1,50 per liter while diesel is being sold at US$1,06 per litre. In Chinhoyi petrol is pegged at US$2,00 at most service stations. The scarcity of diesel in Zimbabwe have forced some players in the transport sector to withdrew their services, resulting in commuters failing to get transport to and from work.

Only the effects of the new fiscal exemptions on fuel shall be felt on a wider scale much later.
Transport operators have resorted to fare increases to between 50% and 100% a development which has left commuters crying foul. A trip from Harare to Bulawayo now costs US$15from US$8 and the Harare-Masvingo trip costs US$8 from US$5. Fuel costs has created an inflationary increase which is now above the -1%recorded in May.

Minister Biti has directed fuel suppliers to reduce the price of the commodity with immediate effect.
The Minister also explained that the government has reduced excise duty on diesel to US 16 cents from US 20 cents with effect from 17 July 2009.Biti had revealed that it was rational to scrap excise duty on diesel since it is mostly used by the productive sector of the economy. Duty levied on petrol remains at US 20 cents. The reduction of excise duty is expected to reduce the prices of diesel and transport fares in Zimbabwe.

DEALING WITH THE BULL

Former Petroleum Market Association President, Mr Masimba Kambarami has attributed the fuel price hikes to the increase of prices on the world market. Some players have accused the local and international fuel suppliers of forming curtails which have led to the scarcity and price increases of fuel. However, the main root cause which triggered the fuel price is the issue of fuel price controls. In March the Minister of Energy and Power Development Elias Mudzuri announced the price controls of fuel ; a scenario which caused fuel suppliers to hold on to their commodity which resulted in the scarcity and continual price rises of the commodity.

COST OF LIVING RISES VERSUS THE FATE OF GENERAL POPULACE

The continual rise in the cost of living increases in an economy which is believed to be in a monthly deflation of -1% has stung mercilessly on the narrow pockets of the generality of the public.
Since February, civil servants have been earning a minor allowance of US$100 and a salary pegged in Zimbabwean dollars .On several occasions civil servants have demonstrated over poor remuneration and they have threatened to go on a nationwide strike if the government did not address and fulfill their promises.

On the third of July the Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture David Coltart told teachers’ representatives at a meeting that the government was working flat to improve their salaries and working conditions and that of other civil servants.

The finance minister has divulged that civil servants will start receiving their salaries with effect from 1 July 2009 that will see a civil servant earning an average of US$140.However, the minister revealed that the new salary structure was being finalized by the Public Service Commission and would be announced in due course. It is still not clear whether the average earning of US$140 is the Gross Income or Net Income.

VARIOUS, LACKLUSTRE AND UNREACHABLE HEAVEN DESTINATIONS

In March this year Minister of Finance Tendai Biti predicted a 6% annual economic growth rate and in June the Deputy Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Dr Samuel Undenge told journalists in Egypt that the economy would grow by 2,8% annually. Talk about a proclivity for policy inconsistency.

In June again Minister Biti reiterated that the economy had grown by 1,8% between February and April. He assured that if the economic trend continues in that direction a 4% annual growth rate will be achieved in December. Indelible See-saw logic indeed.

Economic recovery will not occur overnight in Zimbabwe. Is investing in Zimbabwe still a difficult decision to make?. In a country where more than US$20 billion reserves are found and other vast natural and human resources which the country possesses. The country should utilize its comparative and absolute advantages effectively and wisely for its benefit. Surely, with a complete economic transformation that will panel beat Zimbabwe’s Indigenous and Economic empowerment Policy ,with the utilization of substantial financial assistance from the East and meager financial assistance from the West, Zimbabwe could deliver decent returns.