wfn.org | Zimbabwe's economic woes challenge university

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 10, 2000  News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.     10-31-71B{057}

NOTE:  This report may be used as a sidebar to UMNS story #056.

By Andra Stevens*

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - Africa University's board of directors is watching
the Zimbabwe's troubled economy with concern, and financial issues are
expected to be front and center this year for the school.

The board's executive committee approved an additional allocation of
U.S.$333,375 for the university's budget during a meeting last November in
Maputo, Mozambique.

University Vice Chancellor Rukudzo Murapa told members that the request was
the result of Zimbabwe's volatile and deteriorating economy.

The funds will be used to increase the university's transportation
resources, provide more recreational activities, add to library holdings of
books and periodicals, and upgrade electrical and other physical plant
facilities.

However, the economic situation is expected to dominate board discussions
this year because of its possible impact on enrollment projections, demand
for financial aid from students and staff compensation packages.

In his presentation to the executive committee, Murapa noted that inflation
stands at more than 69 percent. Fuel and electricity costs are rising
monthly and causing an inflationary spiral in other sectors. Interest rates
are around 70 percent, and the government failed to secure much-needed
support with its balance of payments because it could not meet International
Monetary Fund requirements.

"All these factors," Murapa said in his report, "have impacted negatively on
the operations of the university, as financial management and strategic
planning have become impossible. ... The rapid and unpredictable changes in
the economic situation render planning, a critical management tool,
redundant."

Since November, business in Zimbabwe has been hampered by fuel shortages and
rationing throughout the country. The country's main supplier of
electricity, ZESA, is considering rationing power to consumers as well.

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*Stevens is director of the Africa University Office of Information.

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United Methodist News Service
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