MILESTONES OF ENGAGEMENT AND RE-ENGAGEMENT POLICY UNDER THE SECOND REPUBLIC.
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A PATRIOT’S POLICY PERSPECTIVE BY TINASHE MUKORI…🇿🇼✍
When President ED Mnangagwa took office in November 2017, he articulated the Pillars of the New Dispensation’s Foreign Policy as premised on re-affirmation, engagement and re-engagement drive. This Foreign Policy also forms one of the cardinal pillars of National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
PURSUANT TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATION TO INFORM, LET’S TALK ENGAGEMENT AND RE-ENGAGEMENT POLICY!
✍The pillars of the foreign policy he enunciated were that Zimbabwe seeks to be a friend to all and an enemy of none. Secondly, that Zimbabwe will pursue a policy of Re-Affirmation, Engagement and Re-engagement. Furthermore, the country will re-affirm and further strengthen already long-standing relationships with “all-weather” friends
✍Additionally, the Republic seeks to rebuild relationships with all western countries and institutions which wish to re-engage with Zimbabwe; and actively seek engagement with countries with which Zimbabwe has previously had little or no engagement and
lastly, that Zimbabwe is Open For Business!
✍The preceding indicates that the policy of re-affirmation and re-engagement presupposes a disengagement at some point in the diplomatic relations of Zimbabwe with the international community.
✍It should therefore be immediately pointed out that this disengagement was not intentional on the part of Zimbabwe but a nefarious agenda by some global superpowers who were irked by the successful watershed land reform program that sought to redress the historical colonial imbalances in resource distribution, and responded by imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe.
✍The imposition of these illegal sanctions brought with it negative publicity, a record low credit rating and a pariah state tag. The global supremacy of the United States forced Multilateral Financial Institutions (MFIs) to stop advancing bridging finances to revitalise our balance of payments and the economy.
✍ Investors pulled or shied way from investing in Zimbabwe and a sustained deinvestment and de-industrilisation ensued, which severely affected the economy, with negative consequences on the welfare of ordinary citizens.
✍Now, the ultimate objective of re-engagement, naturally, is therefore the lifting of all such measures still imposed on Zimbabwe, and the full, unconstrained return of our country to a position of impeccable -standing within the broad International Community.
✍Re-engagement therefore intents to help eliminate the isolation the country has suffered for decades, aid the flow of international investments into the country, help attract business and lead to quick industrialisation and subsequent modernisation.
✍Notable successes of the diplomatic engagement in this regard have been registered and is clearly demonstrated by the solidarity of fellow SADC and other African nations, of major powers such as China, India, and the Russian Federation, of the Group of Non-Aligned countries, the ACP Group of Nations and many others, who unanimously continue to intensify their call for illegal sanctions to be lifted.
✍The USA itself directed its Congress Subcommittee on Health and Human Rights to undertake an impact assessment of their sanctions on Zimbabwe as pressure mounts on them to remove sanctions, following the visit by UN Special Rapporteur Elena Douhan who stated that illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe violate human rights and should lifted unconditionally.
✍The re-engagement drive has also been bearing fruits as shown by the leadership roles Zimbabwe is assuming on the regional and global arena, and we take that as a vote of confidence in the Second Republic. This year the country will assume the Chairmanship of Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Apart from ascending to the chair of KP, a global body that sets out the requirements for controlling rough diamond production and trade, Zimbabwe is also expected to ascend to the chair of the Africa Diamond Producers’ Association (ADPA).
✍The re-engagement policy was particularly contextualised and put into perspective when President Mnangagwa visited Glasgow, Scotland for the climate change conference (COP26.)
✍The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) brought together 120 world leaders and over 40,000 registered participants. President ED sprung into action and maximized this occasion to engage with everyone who matters in Zimbabwe’s integration into the community of nations.
✍He separately met with USA President Biden and UK former Prime Minister Boris to clarify Zimbabwe’s position as a sovereign State that seeks to relate fairly and freely with other nations on the global arena in all matters diplomatic, developmental, political and economic . He also met the Secretary General of Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland to discuss the readmission into the Bloc, which is now work in progress .
✍Again, he linked up with the European Union Council President Mr Charles Michael and Ms Vicky Ford, UK Minister of State for African Affairs who approves policy on how UK relates with African states. In all these and other various meetings with major global investors, the President stressed that Zimbabwe is Open for Business, a friend to all and enemy to none!
✍Just last week, President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko was in Zimbabwe. This was a reciprocal state visit, his first to a sub-Saharan country, after President Mnangagwa visited the East European country in 2019. This was a major stride in engagement and it solidified cooperation between the two countries as we saw 8 agreements being signed. The two Presidents jointly launched the Second Phase of the Zimbabwe-Belarus Agricultural Mechanisation Programme, estimated at around US$70 million.
✍The Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, visited Zimbabwe and the South- East European nation is looking at increasing its investments in Zimbabwe. They are the masters in infrastructural engineering and development. This resonates well with the infrastructural drive the Second Republic is pushing. Turkey has one of the biggest population in Europe, some of them in parts of Central Asia and this will give Zimbabwe new markets for trade.
✍The efforts of the Second Republic in engagement and re-engagement drive has had significant gains specifically with regard to a number of major investment initiatives, and reflects the wide and widening range of investment suitors, from all over the globe, who appreciate the tremendous potential of Zimbabwe and who are keen to come on board.
✍Good relations has been forged and improved enormously with United Arab Emirates who have embraced our Zimbabwe Is Open For Business mantra and has endeared themselves as the number two trading partner of Zimbabwe after South Africa. There is information indicating that Saudi Arabia is also looking into coming into Zimbabwe in a big way as a result of the engagement and re-engagement policies of the Second Republic.
✍As a result of his engagement and re-engagement efforts in UAE, the President also bagged a 500mw Solar Power Plant Construction framework agreement, signed and approved between Zimbabwe and Skypower Global (Cayman) of the United Arab Emirates.
✍We also received Mulk International, a Sharjah-based industrial conglomerate, which began construction of a $500 million high-tech Park in Zimbabwe that is expected to boost the economic development.
✍Zim Cyber City is being built in Mount Hampden on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, and is the first large-scale investment by a UAE-based business entity in Zimbabwe . Many more investment are expected after President Mnangagwa’s engagement with various investors after he visited United Arab Emirates during the Expo 2022, Dubai.
✍China, our all weather friend, is expanding its investments in Zimbabwe. The April 2018 elevation of relations between Zimbabwe and the Peoples’ Republic of China to that of a Strategic Partnership of Cooperation very clearly reflects the deepening bonds of friendship between our two nations as powerful re-affirmation of indestructible ties. In the last 8 months Zimbabwe has realized an approximate US$700 million mergers and acquisitions especially in the mining sector mainly focusing on Lithium. The Second Republic is attracting the top players in the field of mining across the globe mostly because of our lithium endowments.
✍China is by far the largest foreign investor in Zimbabwe whose total investments in the past three years is said to be around US$2.306 billion, with investments in power generation, agriculture and infrastructural developments among others. One of the largest such investment is the Manhize Steel Plant poised to be the biggest steel manufacturing plant in Sub Saharan Africa. In addition, the Second Republic approved a proposal by a group of Chinese investors to establish a $2.83 billion battery-metals park that will process metals including lithium, platinum and nickel.
✍Mention should be made of the joint China-USA project to build the US$ 4,5 billion Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Power Plant which, when complete will supply some 2 400 MW of electric power to be shared equally between Zimbabwe and Zambia. China has also funded Kariba 7 and 8 Expansion Project , the expansion of RGM International Airport (US$ 153 million), the upgrading of Victoria Falls Airport (US$ 150 million), the Net-One Phase 2 Expansion, the TelOne Backbone and Broadband Projects, among many others already operational including the Kunzvi-Musami Dam Project, still work in progress.
✍Zimbabwe has received huge and promising investment in the mining sector, agriculture, transport, energy and power generation, tourism sector among others.
✍Without being exhaustive, some of the investments that came through as a result of engagement and re-engagement efforts include the US$ 4 billion Karo Resources Platinum Mining Project at Mhondoro-Ngezi, the Prospect Resources Arcadia Lithium Mining Project, with a projected initial investment of some US$ 175 million. Prospect Resources is a battery minerals company, focused on lithium.
✍Furthermore, the Alrosa Zimbabwe JV was granted 39 prospecting permits in 2022.Total investments in geological prospecting and exploration will come to around US$17 million. Alrosa is a Russian company and leader of the world’s diamond mining industry that partnered a Zimbabwean counterpart, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company; the US$ 50 million Chinese investment by Sunny Ying Tile Company in Norton; the US$ 50 million investment, by a UAE Company involving the purchase and complete refurbishing of Meikles Hotel, Harare; the US$ 45 million Pepsi-Cola plant established by Varun Beverages of India; the US$ 25 million Invictus Energy Oil and Gas Project in Muzarabani. Invictus Energy is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
✍Moreso, there is the US$ 50 million deal with John Deere Tractors to supply farming equipment to Zimbabwe; and the prospect of a further US$ 200 million deal with the same US company to supply additional farming and construction equipment to Zimbabwe; the US$ 30 million South African investment to transform the Travel Centre, Harare, into an Apartment Hotel; the US$ 20 million Mauritian investment into the processing of cooking oil, stock feeds and grain milling; and of course the US$ 1,5 billion Hwange 7 and 8 Power Project.
✍As I write today, the 5th of February 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cde Shava has taken the engagement drive to Iran, where he is leading the Zimbabwe delegation at the Ministerial Meeting of the 9th Economic Joint Commission between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is currently underway in Tehran,Iran. This follows a meeting between President ED and his Iranian counterpart President Raisi on the sidelines of UNGA last year in September.
✍ Standing cognizant of the fact that others may question if all these projects and investments have materialized due to re-engagement efforts , as approved, why do we not yet appear to feel or see the impact of those inflows upon our economy, let me hasten to put that into perspective. The vast majority of the approved investments, in terms of the quantum of funding committed, are in the mining and energy sectors.
✍ These projects invariably have long gestation time-frames due, in part, to the need for detailed and often costly pre-feasibility studies, power purchase agreements (PPA’s)(in the case of energy projects), full-feasibility studies and the various stages of exploration. All such projects also have to conduct detailed environmental impact assessments. That said, Zimbabwe is primed for indomitable success!
✍Interesting to note is that the engagement and re-engagement drive is not only limited to foreigners but also Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. Government acknowledges that the Zimbabwean Diaspora has huge and untapped potential which should be harnessed for the development of the nation.
✍To successfully harness this potential, the Government is committed to mainstreaming and integrating the Diaspora in national development, thereby tapping into the Diaspora investment potential, their entrepreneurial skills, expertise and recognizing them fully as actors and contributors to the national developmental discourse.
✍President Mnangagwa made it instructive to meet and engage with Zimbabweans everytime he goes out of the country. As a result, hodes of Zimbabweans who left the country long time ago are coming back to invest and build homes in various affluent suburbs across the country.
✍According to ZANU PF National Spokesperson Cde Mutsvangwa at a recent press conference in Harare , Zimbabwe wants to be a full member of Africa Free Trade Union which is coming with 1.2 billion youthful consumers as the population of Europe and China ages. Africa is the continent of the future and the goal of the President through engagement and re-engagement, including some transformative policies, is for Zimbabwe to be the top African nation as Africa takes its rightful place in global economic affairs.
✍I repeat, without being exhaustive, Zimbabwe is doing very well on engagement, re-engagement and re-affirmation front as this is not an event but a process! Clear indicators of this are huge approved and promising investment initiatives coming in from across the globe despite the albatross on our necks, sanctions!!!
In President ED Mnangagwa we BelievED!!!
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