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Mukudzei Chingwere
Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe’s lure as a prime destination for agribusiness has caught the attention of the Republic of Ireland which is now seeking opportunities in the highly-rewarding sector.

The interest from Ireland comes at a time European countries are slowly warming up to Zimbabwe through the engagement and re-engagement efforts of the Second Republic.

Speaking after paying a courtesy call on Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga in Harare yesterday, Irish Ambassador to Zimbabwe Fionnuala Gilsenan said there was need to explore more opportunities in several areas of cooperation.

“There are a number of areas on the economic side that we discussed, particularly in the agri-business sector and renewable energy.

“I think we have to explore more in detail what those possibilities are. We discussed a lot, our history and some of the challenges we have experienced and how we can exchange those experiences and help to move agendas forward particularly on the international level,” she said.

“So there are a lot of possibilities and as the Vice President has said, we invested in the health sector here in Zimbabwe and that’s an important area of partnership and collaboration.

“The job of an ambassador is to continue to seek opportunities, to build the relationships,” said Ambassador Gilsenan.

VP Chiwenga went down memory lane highlighting the strong relationships existing between the two countries.

On a personal level, the VP was brought up by an Irish priest.

“We discussed a number of areas of mutual interest between our two countries. But what I would want to stress here is that Ireland and Zimbabwe have a long history.

“More importantly, it was the Irish citizens in the form of missionaries who came to Zimbabwe and made Zimbabwe much closer to Ireland when we were still under colonial rule and they played a big role in educating our people, also looking after the health of our people, building the clinics and hospitals.

Vice President and Health and Child Care Minister Dr Constantino Chiwenga receives token of appreciation from incoming UNICEF country representative Tajudeen Oyewale at Kaguvi Building in Harare yesterday. — Pictures: Memory Mangombe

“This reminds us of the Franciscan priests who came into the country and developed quite a number of areas,” said VP Chiwenga.

“You will remember one of the Irish citizens Father Pascal was honoured with the Royal Munhumutapa Order of Merit, because of the role he had played in building schools, hospitals and in supporting the liberation struggle.

“It was the church which gave a lot and treated combatants when they were wounded in battle and that led them to being deported back to Ireland, but they came back. I would like to say we are very close to Ireland. I was brought up by the Irish priest myself,” said VP Chiwenga.

Earlier in the day VP Chiwenga met UNICEF representative to Zimbabwe, Dr Tajudeen Oyewale.

VP Chiwenga said he shared the experiences on what they have done to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.