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Ranga Mataire-Zimpapers Politics Hub

MOZAMBICAN President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi’s working visit to Zimbabwe to officially open the 114th edition of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS) today demonstrates a commitment to consolidate and expand the existing strategic bilateral business and trade cooperation between the two sister nations.

In an interview with Zimpapers Politics Hub yesterday, Mozambican Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Carvalho Muaria said the working visit to Zimbabwe by President Nyusi represents the continued deepening of historic relations between the two countries characterised by brotherhood, mutual support and solidarity.

“This visit is significant in that it is an opportunity for Mozambique to learn from the expertise and long experience of Zimbabwe in the agriculture sector and implement such innovative mechanised agriculture on a high scale in Mozambique, which will go a long way in overcoming food insecurity, create job opportunities, value chain and foster prosperity, thus contributing to socio-economic growth,” said Mr Muaria.

Mr Muaria said given the fact that agriculture is the backbone of two countries’ economies, the visit fits well in enhancing economic diplomacy.

Ambassador Muaria reiterated his country’s call to the international community to facilitate the unconditional removal of all forms of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries saying the punitive measures were a stumbling block not only for the implementation of development policies in Zimbabwe, but also for the entire region.

This year’s Zimbabwe Agricultural Show started on Monday and will run up to Saturday at the Exhibition Park in Harare under the theme: “Cultivating Prosperity: Growing Business, Innovating for Change, Nurturing Our Future.” The event is expected to attract 200 000 visitors.

According to the Observatory Economic Complexity- an online visualisation and distribution platform for international trade, Mozambique exported US$336 million worth of products in 2022 to Zimbabwe. The main products that Mozambique exported to Zimbabwe were soya bean oil ($US$93 million), and refined petroleum (US$59.7 million).

Over the past six years, Mozambican exports to Zimbabwe have increased at an annualised rate of 24.4 percent, from US$113 million in 2017 to US$336 million in 2022.

Zimbabwe exported goods worth US4119 million to Mozambique in 2022 with the main products being processed tobacco ($26.6 million), mineral (US$25million) and ferroalloys (US$22.6 million). Over the past six years, exports of products from Zimbabwe to Mozambique have declined at an annualised rate of 2.9 percent from US$348 million in 2017 to US$119 million in 2022.

The statistics indicate that there is a lot more that the two countries still need to do to enhance trade.

In May last year, President Nyusi led a high powered delegation to Zimbabwe on a three-day State visit whose objective was to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. The visit led to the inaugural Zimbabwe-Mozambique Business Forum and Exhibition held in Harare with the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) and ZimTrade signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their Mozambican counterparts.