How Zimbabwe's Lithium Export Ban Can Transform it into Africa's Next Superpower

In this video we go over Zimbabwe's recent policy to ban the export of raw lithium and what this could mean for the African nation's economy.

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[EconomicsExplained]

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[faraibee]

Zimbabwean here, corruption is the biggest problem and this policy will not solve much in that regard

[building_keevo]

The Zimbabwean government is banning the export of unprocessed lithium by what they call 'artisanal miners', basically illegal miners. This ban does not extend to the giant corporations who are exporting raw lithium now and who will continue to export raw lithium. It's basically investors telling that govt to shut down the small operators. The whole video is pointless.

[alex_zetsu]

After these guys managed to blow up a thriving agricultural sector (Zimbabwe was once an exporter of both food and coffee and now it needs to import food) and went to the printing press, I'd be hard pressed to believe Zimbabwean leadership is both capable and willing to fix their economy.

[nottoolatetofly]

Unfortunately corruption and nepotism is guaranteed to ruin any chance of a good outcome for the average person.

[simon]

As a Zimbabwean I can tell you 100%, The profits will only transform the lives of the politicians, ....this country I being looted dry, most are struggling to get by daily.

[NavyofLeitch]

Too bad you missed the fact that Zimbabwe has nationalized so much private property that no one has any interest in investing in factories that are just going to be owned by Government a few months later for free...

[theentertainmentscholar]

As a Zimbabwean most likely 0% of the lithium money is going to benefit the average person here 😔

[schwarzmann]

Zimbabwe's economic problems aren't from Colonialism. Colonialism ended in 1965 when the White Minority rule declared independence from Great Britain. Between 1965-1980 the economy was striving in spite of sanctions from the west. After the civil war and Black Majority rule was established mismanagement of the countries natural resources and and autocratic led to its economic downfall. The problem has always been corruption, mismanagement and government theft. Nothing will change until the government actually starts prioritising the wellbeing of the citizens of the entire country rather than just themselves and their families.

[CrackerBarrelKid]

The video simplistically likes to pin all of Zimbabwe's problems to colonialism. As a South African myself, I can say that colonialism plays a very small role in the downfall of southern African countries. Power grabs, extreme corruption and violent populism all play a bigger role.

In Zimbabwe's case, destroying their agricultural sector by chasing out all white farmers was completely self inflicted. They can't get a pass that easily by blaming colonialism.

[ThioJoe]

I know the pain of having to re-upload a previously published video for whatever reason, so I'll let this play in full again on my second monitor with the volume down 🤗

[phillipmcdougal]

If 58% of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to non-transportation energy production, doesn't that mean that electrifying the transportation modes just shifts the emissions over to the energy sector? Why wouldn't the first course of action be to modernize electricity production with nuclear power or any type of greener generation? Seems like the methods being implemented are short sighted

[teebrown]

I come to your channel to learn about the bigger picture about economics. If you can fairly explore multiple variables impacting the economy of a corrupt regime like China’s government, then you can do better than saying all of Zimbabwe’s woes come from colonialism.

[kfawell]

Why the focus on colonial history? There are countries that had been colonized for a long time that are now doing well economically. For example, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam come to mind. Then there are the Eastern-Bloc countries that have turned around despite being under a communist system. I know a colonial history is a disadvantage but it does not primarily account for the current state of a country's economy. Factors like lack of infrastructure, being landlocked or other geographical disadvantages, or high corruption matter a lot. How about a country like Poland that has gone through incredible hardships in the last hundred years and yet is doing well economically? China was exploited by other countries and then brutalized itself with The Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution. Then starting in the 70s, it began to develop dramatically.

Only and repeatedly citing colonialism as the primary reason for a country's current state seems like a bit of lazy reasoning.

I liked the video otherwise.

[tapiwachipepera]

I am actually from Zim and I have to say I am really surprised to see this video on our lithium reserves. If I am being honest I am not really keen for the current government to make any decision when it comes to our lithium reserves. Time and time again the ruling party has plundered the nations resources. We have seen it with gold, diamonds and not potentially lithium. I am personally hoping for a change in government from this year's election to put us on the right tragectory. A deep dive into the Zimbabwean economy would be great !!!

[madhavyu]

The problem with Africa is not the lack of resources, it is lack of human capital development.

[akseli]

She conveniently left out the part where Zimbabwe stripped white farmers of their land and the country suffered greatly as a consequence. The resulting drop in production made Zimbabwe dependent on foreign food imports when it used to be the bread basket of Africa with lots of fertile land. This in turn caused the Zimbabwean dollar to drop in external value, further contributing to the hyperinflation.

Chinese deals never come without a cost. I sincerely hope it's not just the Zimbabwean political elite who will benefit from this while selling their country piece by piece to be a new Chinese colony.

In my opinion all any former colony needs is guaranteed property rights, free markets and functional institutions. It will take a while but having those will surely set the countries on a positive track.

[coolerammo]

10:41 is also really bad. Higher house hold income does not cause economic growth! Higher productivity causes economic growth. Zimbabwe's house hold income shot up 80 billion percent in a year but the economy did not grow.

[spiffyracc]

By default, it would be wise to be skeptical when the Zimbabwe government is proposing economic restrictions...

[MsJeffreyF]

You say if unions can negotiate 100% salary increases there'd be no need for unions. That doesn't make sense to me. Why wouldn't you want a union capable of negotiating so well for you on your side? Not to mention other reasons to be in a union