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VP Mujuru

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
THE African Union has commended Zimbabwe for coming up with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation, the economic blueprint, that prioritises use of local resources to turnaround the economy.
The continental body also committed itself to assisting Zimbabwe in the implementation of Zim Asset so that it becomes an example to other African nations.

AU representative and Head of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Agency’s Comprehensive Agriculture Development Programme Mr Martin Bwalya said this soon after meeting Acting President Joice Mujuru at her Munhumutapa Offices yesterday.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made and Common Market for East and Southern Africa secretary general Mr Sindiso Ngwenya also attended the meeting.

The Government has adopted Zim Asset to turnaround the economy using the country’s abundant natural resources.
“It is a very important document and its very clear and you can tell the country has taken time to think through and actually committed to make a difference, that is one thing you see very clearly,” said Mr Bwalya. “It’s not just the planning, but the commitment to make a difference and it is clear about what results we want to deliver.

“It is also clear how do we deliver this, so it is now just getting to do it and so this is what the AU Commission, the Nepad Agency recognises in terms of the effort the Government of Zimbabwe is making to actually move forward based on local resources, self determination and the resolve to actually do something.

“This is something we support to not just show Zimbabwe, but the rest of the continent that it can be done and here is an example.”
Speaking in a separate interview, Mr Ngwenya said Zim Asset was unique because for the first time Government had adopted a Results Based Management approach.

“Zim Asset has provided the framework, identified the priorities,” he said. “It is an interesting document based on RBM. Now, this is unusual because in the past, governments did not work on the RBM. It is private sector companies that worked on RBM, now if Government works on RBM together with the private sector and other stakeholders it means it is doable.”

Mr Ngwenya said that the blueprint had a clear implementation matrix showing the responsibilities and targets for every sector of the economy.

“What now needs to be done is to get the means to get things happen and those means can come from within the country and can also come from those that would support the effort, that is the partners who are like minded, who will do it voluntarily without strings attached,” he said.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry also met Acting President Mujuru as a follow-up to her visit to that country last year and pledged to pursue opportunities identified in the new economic policy.

The organisation’s regional director for Africa, Gulf and Middle East Mr E B Rajesh said a number of businessmen from his country expressed interest in doing business in Zimbabwe.

“We discussed new opportunities that are coming up in the areas of agriculture and Information Communication Technology and infrastructure building and also various other sectors like food processing,” he said.

“We feel there are a lot of opportunities in this document and we hope to enhance our cooperation through this and identify new projects.”