Brief Briefing Notes
Political History
Prior to the late 1800s, Europe’s contacts with Africa were mainly through trading stations on the coast. The climate inland was inhospitable and it came to be called the White Man’s Grave. The centre of Africa was, however, thought to be rich in minerals and commercial interests and European powers became more interested in exploring inland. Agreements were reached in 1884 at the Berlin Conference about which European countries might become involved in which areas of Africa and the continent was “carved up”. Prominent among British companies was the British South Africa Company in which Cecil Rhodes was a leading figure. The company gained concessions for mining rights in 1888 to an area that colonists called Northern and Southern Rhodesia, which were separated by the Zambezi River. The British Government became involved in both countries in the early 1900s. Southern Rhodesia, which later became Zimbabwe, became a self-governing British colony in 1923.
A Land Apportionment Act in 1930 favoured the minority white community and this lead to increasing inequality and tensions. After unsuccessful attempts to merge the two Rhodesias with Nyasaland, measures were put in place for the three countries to become independent multiracial democracies. This was successful for Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia (which became Zambia). However, there was no will on the part of the minority white community in Southern Rhodesia to abide by the British policy of “no independency before majority rule”, so in 1965 it made a “Unilateral Declaration of Independence”. This gave rise to sanctions being imposed on the country and civil unrest that lead in 1980 to elections and the presidency of Robert Mugabe. Tribal conflicts followed soon after this with a period of bloodshed. As time went by, state power became more authoritarian and questions were raised about the legitimacy of the way in which elections took place. Land reform that reduced ownership by the white community reduced investment confidence and this, together with frozen foreign credit and sanctions lead to a collapse in the economy. Subsequently a power sharing arrangement between the two leading parties became possible, but it became increasingly difficult for President Mugabe to remain in power and in 2018 the ZANU-PF took power with its leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, becoming president.
Some Health Statistics (Source : Our World in Data)
In 2023 the population of Zimbabwe was 16,665,409 with 68% of the population living in rural areas.
It is currently defined by the World Bank as a Lower Middle Income Country that is just above the definition for a Low Income Country.
https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93-AE8C-750588BF00QA/AM2020/Global_POVEQ_ZWE.pdf
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy dropped from 68.2 years in 1986 to 47.1 in 2001, but has risen again in 2021 to 59.3 years.
This is a reflection of the severe epidemic of HIV/AIDS and made worse by the financial crash, which was when food became short and NGOs took over from Government as the primary provider of food.
HIV/AIDS
The death rate from HIV/AIDS fell from a peak of 961/100,000 in 2003 to 136.91/100,000 in 2019 through a programme of management. The highest rate that the UK experienced over this time period was 1.32/100,000.
Women make up 61% of those aged 15 and over who are living with HIV.
The prevalence of HIV in children under 5 years rose to a peak of 4.05% in 2000, but this has fallen back to 0.78% in 2019. In the UK it has never risen above <0.1%.
In 2019, the main cause of death was HIV/AIDS (20,722 deaths), closely followed by cardiovascular disease at 17,810 deaths.
Other major causes of death
Number of deaths by cause in Zimbabwe in 2019
- HIV/AIDS = 20,722
- Cardiovascular = 17,810
- Lower Respiratory infections = 12,897
- Cancers = 12,353
- TB = 10,465
- Neonatal = 8,609
- Diarrheal = 4,635
- Digestive = 4,437
The death rate from TB in 2019 was 121/100,000. (0.31/100,000 in the UK in 2019)
Maternal Health
- Share of women using contraceptives = 6.8 in 2015
- Share of women whose family planning needs are met = 55.1% in 2016
- Share of women expected to survive to age of 65 year = 69.41% in 2020
Maternal Mortality
Whilst Infant mortality (the share of newborns dying before one year) has fallen from 6.99% in 1980 to 3.79% in 2020 (UK rate = 0.36% in 2020), the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has not shown a smooth decline and in 2017 was 458/100,000 live births, nearly 70 times higher than in the UK.
Child mortality
- Neonatal Mortality Rate – share of newborns dying before 28 days = 2.57% in 2020
- Death Rate from neonatal preterm birth complication per 100,000 children under 5 years = 170.88 in 2019
- Infant mortality rate (share of newborns dying before 1 year) = 3.79 in 2020
- Child Mortality Rate (share of children dying before age 5) = 5.21 in 2021
More information about Zimbabwe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe
