A land of hope and dreams

The government was forced to print Z$100 trillion notes, each worth around US$30.

In the 2008 election the MDC achieved an unexpectedly high percentage of the vote, apparently overwhelming the Zanu PF efforts at manipulation.

There were genuine concerns that Mugabe would grab power in a military coup but a "unity" government was formed in early 2009 with Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as Prime Minister.

Few expected such a fraught situation to last more than a few weeks or months, however the arrangement is still in place.

When Morgan Tsvangirai visited Australia this year my meeting with him could not have differed more from our previous one.

He wanted Australia to lift sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe including the travel sanctions against his former bitter rival President Mugabe.

He explained that for Zimbabwe's economy to grow and for living standards to rise, the country had to move on from past conflicts and cast aside old hatreds in the national interest.

It was somewhat surreal to be sitting opposite him again and to hear him speak of his now cordial relationship with Mr Mugabe and how they now discuss their families and their hopes for Zimbabwe's future.

Mature and stable leadership, committed to reconciliation, will be essential for Zimbabwe to emerge from the economic and social devastation of the past.

The scale of the challenge is daunting.

A recent discussion paper from the Brenthurst Foundation, titled Backwards to Beit Bridge? A Strategy to Revive Zimbabwe's Industry, shows that 85 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

According to the paper, Zimbabwe will have to achieve economic growth of 10 per cent per year for the next 30 years to lift current incomes from $300 per capita to $3000.