Zimbabwe may be a basket case, but other sub-Saharan countries are faring better

Zimbabwe may have been brought to ruin under Mugabe, but many other countries in the region have achieved a remarkable transformation over the past decade.

The events of the last week in Zimbabwe are a tragedy. Anyone who has spent time in that beautiful country and enjoyed the hospitality of its warm and generous people will feel rage that Robert Mugabe could have brought it to ruin. When I first visited nearly 20 years ago, Zimbabwe was the great success of Southern Africa peaceful and relatively prosperous, a beacon of hope to its troubled neighbours such as Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania, just emerging from dictatorship and civil wars. Zambia, where my family lived for a while, was a basket case in comparison.

If there is a glimmer of hope from the last week, it is the reaction of Zimbabwe's neighbours to its plight. With the shameful exception of South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, many African leaders have been vocal critics of Mugabe's brutal terror tactics chief among them the presidents of Zambia and Angola. Their response is testimony to the remarkable transformation across much of the region over the last decade.

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Simon Nixon

Simon is the chief leader writer and columnist at The Times and previous to that, he was at The Wall Street Journal for 9 years as the chief European commentator. Simon also wrote for Reuters Breakingviews as the Executive Editor earlier in his career. Simon covers personal finance topics such as property, the economy and other areas for example stockmarkets and funds.