Zimpapers Logo

President Mugabe

From Cletus Mushanawani in SINGAPORE
PRESIDENT Mugabe arrived at Changi International Airport in Singapore yesterday to attend his first born Bona’s graduation ceremony tomorrow. The Head of State and Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was welcomed at the airport by Zimbabwe’s consular-general to Singapore, Mr Claudius Nhema, and embassy staff.

President Mugabe, who is accompanied by the First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe, Bona and senior Government officials, is scheduled to attended the Arab-Africa Summit slated for next week.

Bona, who holds a first degree in Accounting, would be graduating with a Master’s Degree in Banking and Finance.
“The pride of the family” was traditionally married to Simba Chikore in August and is expected to wed next March. Her parents have been speaking glowingly of her achievements.

Speaking at the Today’s Woman Inter-Denominational Conference held in Harare recently, Amai Mugabe said she had raised her daughter in an upright and God-fearing manner.

President Mugabe announced Bona’s graduation during the commissioning and handover of two boys’ hostels, a 79-seater bus and a computer laboratory at Chishawasha Mission Primary School in Goromonzi last month.

He said: “Tina sisi vari pano ava vane zita rinonzi Bona. Akaenda kuDominican Convent takazomuendesa kunanaHong Kong achindoita zvidzidzo zveaccounts. Akazoita master’s kuSingapore, saka ari kuenda kugraduation musi wa16 November.”

After the graduation, President Mugabe is expected to join about 65 world leaders at the Arab-African Summit which will run from November 19 to 20.

Next week’s summit comes after participants in the two-day Arab-African Economic Summit that ended on Tuesday issued a number of recommendations aimed at promoting Afro-Arab partnerships.

The Arab and African national and regional financial institutions were encouraged to continue supporting socio-economic development including achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The meeting also recommended that financial institutions should intensify their efforts in financing small- and medium-sized projects through supporting operations of national development banks and social funds in the Arab and African regions in view of their role in reducing unemployment and providing new business opportunities in the private sector.

It also encouraged African and Arab financial institutions to develop mechanisms that promote inter-investments in the Arab and African regions, and identify investment opportunities while working to remove difficulties facing investors.

They called for improvement of the investment climate in both the Arab and African countries through further reforms in policies, procedures and laws relating to domestic and foreign investment to attract more investments by both public and private sectors, particularly direct domestic and foreign investments.