When opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai became prime minister on February 11, 2009, the once-vibrant nation had plunged into a seemingly endless freefall.
Political violence had engulfed the country after failed elections in 2008. More than half the population needed food aid. Ruptured sewers sparked a cholera epidemic that killed more than 4 000 people. Doctors and teachers fled their jobs, while unemployment hit 94%.
With Zimbabwe disintegrating, the government in January abandoned the local currency and legalised trade in US dollars.
Just weeks later, the power-sharing government took office, leaving 85-year-old Mugabe in control of security forces while handing Tsvangirai the purse strings.
More than any single action, dollarisation stabilised the economy, allowing once-bare supermarkets to restock at least basics like salt, sugar and cooking oil - items that had become luxuries.
Political settlement
"We have done so much in so little time," Tsvangirai said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. "However I would be the last to say that everything is rosy."
The economy last year grew by 4.7%, the first growth in a decade, but economic analyst Antony Hawkins said a full recovery to the peaks of the 1990s would take 10 to 15 years.
"The corner has been turned but it's going to be a long-haul," Hawkins said.
"We need a political settlement that gets recognition from the international community. We need political certainty to move faster. The economy is being held back by the politicians."
But Zimbabwe's political headaches have proved more difficult to fix.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's Zanu-PF are still feuding over Mugabe's unilateral appointments of the attorney general and central bank governor.
Mugabe has refused to swear in Roy Bennett, Tsvangirai's pick for deputy agriculture minister, who is being prosecuted for treason.
"In terms of stopping the economic haemorrhage, we have succeeded," said MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.
* News 24
