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From Golden Sibanda in Bulawayo
Zimbabwe must remain optimistic in the face of debilitating effects of illegal sanctions imposed by Western countries opposed to its land reform programme, Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe has said. Officially opening the 57th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo yesterday, President Gnassingbe said Togo went through a similar onslaught, but prevailed and was now ready to fight back. “You must remain optimistic; you have been through sanctions like my own country. For 15 years we’ve been under sanctions. Each year we lost one percent of our GDP but we resisted and now we’re fighting back,” President Gnassingbe said to thunderous applause.

He said Zimbabwe had unlimited potential to do well economically.

Zimbabwe has been under economic and travel sanctions imposed by Britain and its allies, including the United States and European Union countries, opposed to its land reform programme launched at the turn of the century. The economic and trade embargoes have partly been blamed for Zimbabwe’s economic down spiral that decimated almost 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product over the decade to 2008.

Statistics say Zimbabwe lost over $42 billion due to the embargoes. The Togolese leader said he was proud of the Zimbabwean people for their resilience and hard work. He promised to bring back a bigger delegation to Zimbabwe to learn more about what he saw at the exhibition. Earlier on, President Gnassingbe was welcomed at Joshua Mqabuko International Airport by President Mugabe, his Vice President Cdes Emerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko and several Cabinet ministers.

Also present at the airport yesterday were thousands of Zanu-PF party supporters engaged in song and dance. The Togolese President toured exhibition stands in the company of President Mugabe, local ministers as well as Ministers from Togo.

Among the ministers were Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, Agriculture Minister Dr Joseph Made, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Chris Mushohwe, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeremayi, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, service chiefs and officials from Togo.

The entourage toured several local companies that included Cairns Holdings, Tanganda, Alfa Omega Dairy, exhibition sites for South African, Japanese, Namibian and Botswana embassies, educational institutions and private companies as well as the Zanu PF stand.

The tour lasted for about two hours. President Gnassingbe said the quality of exhibitions at ZITF continued to improve and that the country should not be discouraged by being landlocked. This year’s edition of the ZITF was held under the theme “Innovate, integrate, industrialise, focussing on the need to find new ideas, adopt technology and value add raw materials to grow.

Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole, the Togolese President said, should move with speed to industrialise so that exports were value added as opposed to the present situation of exporting raw materials.

President Gnassingbe said there was need to expedite integration of the African economies, which were subdivided into territorial boundaries by colonial masters, which was now restricting mutual investments and the free movement of people. He said integrating African economies was important to facilitate the huge potential trade between and among the African countries.

“The potential for trade development in Africa is very immense. “We find ourselves in a paradoxical situation where we have integration but with states that are divided…There is need for political will in order to accelerate this integration,” President Gnassingbe said.