The Sunday News
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa last week joined other world leaders at the grand stage of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, where he again reiterated that Zimbabwe is Open for Business and implored everyone to work with Zimbabwe to help turn around the country’s economic fortunes.
President Mnangagwa has always insisted that top priority should be given to economic recovery, and every time he takes to the podium, he does just that, calling upon all nations, as well as sons and daughters of our beautiful nation to put “all hands on deck”.
His seeds are certainly falling on fertile soil, and last week, the World Bank pledged to support Zimbabwe’s economic recovery and international debt clearance efforts. World Bank vice-president for Africa Mr Hafez Ghanem said he was supportive of President Mnangagwa’s agenda regarding co-operation with international lenders.
Mr Ghanem made the remarks after emerging from a meeting with President Mnangagwa in New York. In 2015 Zimbabwe adopted the Lima Plan to clear debt arrears, and President Mnangagwa’s Government has revived it as part of a broader strategy to attract fresh lines of credit as well as foreign investment.
President Mnangagwa’s Government has set about normalisation of relations via political and business-based diplomacy. Present in that meeting were Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya, who were part of President Mnangagwa’s delegation in the United States.
Mr Ghanem said, “We will be in contact with (Prof Ncube and Dr Mangudya) to work on that (Lima plan), and also to look at the future; how the World Bank and Zimbabwe’s co-operation can be strengthened, and we can move beyond the debt clearance. I came out of this meeting very optimistic about the future and the future of Zimbabwe’s economy and hope also (for) the future of co-operation between the World Bank and Zimbabwe.”
Mr Ghanem said President Mnangagwa had articulated to him how Zimbabwe was opening up for business, its economic growth objectives and how it was improving the social sectors.
“It was an excellent opportunity for me to meet His Excellency the President to discuss Zimbabwe’s economic programme and the partnership between Zimbabwe and the World Bank,” he said.
President Mnangagwa also all but secured the support of Britain — through its Minister of State for Africa Harriet Baldwin — in its quest for backing for the Lima Plan at next month’s annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia.
What is clear is that President Mnangagwa’s engagement and re-engagement efforts with the international community are bearing fruit, and very soon, the country will turn the corner.
The President also took the opportunity when addressing the UN General Assembly to inform fellow global leaders about political and economic developments in Zimbabwe, as well as articulating the country’s key foreign policy positions.
