KIJANA MDOGO MJASIRIAMALI WA ZIMBABWE ANG'ARA KWENYE MKUTANO WA MAREKANI NA AFRICA, LIVE NA OBAMA

WASHINGTON DC—
A young Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Takunda Chingonzo, was on the spotlight Tuesday at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum where he asked President Barack Obama to clarify his country’s sanctions targeting President Robert Mugabe and members of his inner circle.
Chingonzo, a student at the National University of Science and Technology and co-founder of Saisai Wireless in Zimbabwe, his third start-up company, said the sanctions were hampering efforts by ordinary Zimbabwean business people to trade with America.

Giving his personal experience, the 21-year old told Mr. Obama his efforts to engage U.S. corporations had been hampered by the so-called targeted measures.

“I was shocked, you know,” said Chingonzo. “This doesn’t make sense. These are supposed to be targeted sanctions. This is the exact same experience that other Zimbabwean entrepreneurs have gone through with potential (American) investors.”

 Mr. Obama responded that the situation in Zimbabwe was unique, adding the challenge for the U.S. has been “our desire to help the people of Zimbabwe with what frankly has been a repeated violation of basic democratic practices and human rights inside of Zimbabwe”.

“We think it is very important to send clear signals about how we expect elections to be conducted because if we don’t, then all too often, with impunity, the people of those countries can suffer.”

Mr. Obama said Chingonzo was right that there was need for the U.S. to balance the measures, imposed on Mr. Mugabe, his colleagues and a number of entities following the disputed 2002 elections, to ensure they don’t hurt ordinary people.