Robert Mugabe versus Richard Branson: Classic clash between African dictator and British billionaire

[pampango]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/zimbabwe/100922/opinion-robert-mugabe-versus-richard-branson

Robert Mugabe versus Sir Richard Branson: Who will win in this classic clash between Africa's iconic dictator and Britain's ever-smiling airline billionaire? Unfortunately not the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe.

It began innocently enough Monday when Branson urged international donors to channel funds to jump start Zimbabwe's stalled economy.

"If everybody waits on the sidelines, it will be the people who suffer. The present state of politics in Zimbabwe is by no means perfect, but it's a great deal better," said Branson, unveiling his fund, Enterprise Zimbabwe, to major philanthropists and investors at the Clinton Global Initiative forum on the sidelines of the United Nations anti-poverty summit.

Branson designed his fund to reassure private donors who want to invest but are concerned with how the funds will be used. Worries remain that foreign investment will go to politicians rather than ordinary people.