Our lessons can start here: In a widely referenced 1989 interview with the Financial Gazette(we have seen a snapshot the interview shared here on X, Prof Mthuli Ncube outlined an ideological stance that directly foreshadowed the advice he would offer governments down the line: “all economies need structural adjustment because there is no economy which grows on an ideal path... we should not go for loans where the rate of interest exceeds the rate of GDP growth because then we are living beyond our means." He argued that raw commodity exports left Zimbabwe exposed. He frequently advised that state policy should pivot toward processing raw commodities domestically (beneficiation) such as textiles for cotton or refining capacity for minerals to retain value within the country. In his academic papers throughout the 90s, Ncube warned of the cyclical macro-instability built into Zimbabwe's economic model. Because the local currency and national reserves were entirely dependent on seasonal commodity inflows, any global price crash directly triggered balance-of-payments crises and domestic inflation. During his time advising the government(1990s), Ncube pushed for the introduction of agricultural and mining commodity derivatives (such as futures and options contracts). He maintained that allowing producers to hedge their prices would stabilise export revenues and cushion the national budget against sudden global downturns. References 1. Option Pricing with Time-Varying Volatility: Using OLS and Panel Data Models (1991) 2. The Real Exchange Rate and Growth in Emerging Markets: The Case of Zimbabwe 3. The Need for Financial Stability in Zimbabwe: Use of Derivative Securities