By Eric Manyonda
There is a growing sentiment from individuals who at times overstep their relevance, to leave the country. The call is directed at the youth and premised on evident diminished opportunities in the country’s socio-economic and political arena. At face value the call would make sense considering the apparent real issues referenced. However, circumstances one grows in are not always indicative or signposts of the life one will most likely live.
Success is born of a struggle, there is a critical mass in Zimbabwe whose agency does not depend on the country’s leaders or economic outlook. These individuals operate outside the state. They have devised methods and means, identified opportunities in the chaos and are running otherwise flourishing enterprises. Are these individuals connected? Could they be called conflict entrepreneurs? They are just entrepreneurs, whether the situation is good or bad, who adapt without corroboration. All they do is operate outside provided operational rules but without necessarily breaking any rules. Understanding the informal sector provides insights into this phenomenon. The informal sector operates largely outside the formal limitations of the state. Indeed, some activities of informal traders become illegal which in the case of Zimbabwe include the obstruction of traffic.
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Unruly elements abound. In the same vein, how does an individual engaging in informal trade utilizing social media break any rule? These sell their products to their clientele without blocking pathways, without engaging in running battles with the police without making the streets dirty. At the end of the day, they make sales, their clientele is happy and their business flourish. I therefore put forth a narrative that instead of advocating for mass migration, which is basically human nature, there is another way. The other way looks at operations by individuals either as single entities or collectives outside the state but without necessarily antagonizing or clashing with it. Success recorded by these individuals cannot be attributed to any political party or any intervention by a finance Minister, which in our case has been nothing short of comical.
Political leadership although claiming to be for the people are betrayed by their acts of commission and or omission. Waiting on them is tantamount to waiting for a day that will never come. Any political system in the world listens to Capital. Operating outside the state can potentially build this Capital and eventually a Zimbabwe that is an envy to the dearly departed, not the dead, the living abroad.
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