EU applauds President Mnangagwa as relations continue to thaw

Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter

RELATIONS between the European Union (EU) and Zimbabwe continue to thaw with the bloc saying it needs Zimbabwe as a trade partner and applauding President Mnangagwa in particular for putting his hands on the deck in the fight against gender-based violence.

The President’s commitment towards ending the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and various initiatives that support women and girls has prompted the EU to make a pledge to further support, through provision of resources, programmes and projects that speak to gender issues in the country.

The bloc has also expressed its desire to further trade interests with the country saying it has been making long tenure investment financial provisions to various banks in the country through the European Investment Bank. The EU made its inaugural appearance at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) this year. In an interview, the EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Jobst von Kirchmann said Zimbabwe was the only country out of the ones they were dealing with whose President has demonstrated a serious commitment to ending the scourge of GBV.

“Our programmes can only target what is a Zimbabwean strategy, we look into the strategies that are available in the country and we have seen that for gender, and in particular gender-based violence, there is a lot of commitment. Actually, of all the countries where we finance initiatives against GBV, the Spotlight Initiative, Zimbabwe is the only one where the President himself committed and endorsed a pact.

So, we said that is a priority for us and also for Zimbabwe so we can support a strategy that is also in line with our own values. That is how we operate and that is why gender is a key issue. We share the same values and same interests with Zimbabwe on this,” he said.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global multi-year partnership initiated by the EU and the United Nations, in partnership with governments, to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030.

Launched in Zimbabwe in 2019, the implementation of the programme is led by the United Nations Resident Coordinator, in partnership with six UN agencies – namely ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN WOMEN, the European Union Delegation and civil society organisations.

With a funding commitment of US$30 million from the EU, the Spotlight Initiative in Zimbabwe is being implemented in five provinces across Zimbabwe which are Mashonaland Central, Harare, Manicaland, Mashonaland West, and Matabeleland South under the six pillars of legislative and policy framework, strengthening institutions, prevention and social norms, delivery of quality services data availability and capacities, and women’s movement and civil society.

Amb von Kirchman further said tackling issues around gender was critical as women play a pivotal role in other socio-economic activities in Zimbabwe.
“Apart from helping women to play an active role and social, economic, and political life, it is also linked to the second big initiative we have on agriculture because in rural areas many women work in the agricultural sector and the support has a double meaning actually, for gender equality and for women empowerment but also for improving agriculture production,” he added.
The EU Ambassador also highlighted that the EU needs Zimbabwe as a key trading partner following their inaugural exhibition at the just-ended ZITF.

“It is a mutual engagement (exhibiting) as you can see this is a historic moment for the EU. It also means that we would like to see more trade, investment on both sides, trade between the bloc and Zimbabwe and an exploration of investment opportunities in the country. We take it as a priority for ourselves to promote this with our different trade tools, development tools and trade facilitation access to finance through our bank the European Investment Bank which is the biggest bank in the world.

“We have given (funds) through CABS, NMB and First Capital, we have made available financing schemes of about 40 million Euro for companies and they are exhausted quickly because companies are very interested in them.

This is because it has a different interest rate of eight percent and is a long tenure of seven years and it is very advantageous for countries. It is mutual re-engagement and mutual co-operation to enhance trade and investment in Zimbabwe,” said the Ambassador.

The EU has a long history of supporting Zimbabwean trade, which includes preferential trade access to the markets of 27 countries of the European Union in a duty-free and quota-free manner, since May 2012. @NyembeziMu