The Sunday Mail
GREAT leaders are typified by having an overarching goal, purpose and plan.
For President Mnangagwa, the underlining philosophy is progress through self-determination, as expressed in the “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo” mantra.
In just the first term of the Second Republic, the successful implementation of several key infrastructural projects has proved that Zimbabweans can decide their own destiny in the international order, notwithstanding the long-standing sanctions imposed on the country by the West.
From 2018 to date, the Second Republic has undertaken 6 869 projects across the country. The initiatives vary in scope, from community-based empowerment and strategic projects to provincial and national ones.
Of this figure, 4 984 have been completed, translating into a high success rate.
But two key national projects that have been completed during the first half of this year point to the progressive nature of the Second Republic.
Within the past six months, we have witnessed the completion of two important infrastructure projects that will shift the country’s economic trajectory.
The successful commissioning of the Hwange Thermal Power Station’s new Units 7 and 8 has added 600 megawatts (MW) to Zimbabwe’s energy output, alleviating erstwhile power shortages and establishing a platform for greater economic development.
Work has already started on the refurbishment of Hwange’s Units 1 to 6, which have a capacity to produce 920MW.
Zimbabweans, who have had to deal with power shortages for decades, can never underestimate the impact of Hwange’s Units 7 and 8.
Certainly not individuals who have had to cope with rolling blackouts, or firms, whose output was constrained by the outages.
As a factor of production, electricity is not easily substitutable. There is no route to development without greater energy consumption.
President Mnangagwa’s insight in working to boost the country’s energy supplies is not only in anticipation of further industrial development and modernisation, but it also extends to the State’s capacity to deliver key public services, including health care and education.
The successful implementation of innovation hubs in all the country’s universities would not be possible without adequate electricity supplies.
With regard to education, Government is pursuing a competence-based curriculum — Education 5.0 — which has seen the establishment of innovation hubs and industrial parks at universities and colleges across the country.
Under the Second Republic, agro-industrial parks have been established at the University of Zimbabwe; Marondera, Lupane and Great Zimbabwe universities.
An optometry clinic has been set up at the Bindura University of Science Education; a Milking Parlour and Artificial Insemination Plant has been established at Chinhoyi University of Technology, and an Applied Genetic Testing Centre has been set up at the National University of Science and Technology.
A National Pathology Research and Diagnostic Centre is now in place at the Midlands State University; the Gwanda State University mining laboratory is now operational, and in a historic feat, the country launched ZimSat-1 into space through the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA).
As the Second Republic continues to tick the boxes, this past week, President Mnangagwa had a familiarisation tour of the just-completed expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, which has boosted its passenger handling capacity from 1,3 million to 6,7 million passengers a year.
The airport has been transformed into a modern one, which will provide services and amenities such as more check-in counters, gyms and coffee bars. It now compares very well with other airports in the region.
Government has an appreciation that transport infrastructure — be they roads (as demonstrated by the rehabilitation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway and the modernisation and upgrading of the Beitbridge Border Post) or air transport infrastructure — plays a considerable role in the socio-economic development of the country.
Government’s completed and ongoing infrastructure development projects are not short-term.
They come together in the Second Republic’s broader vision of achieving an upper middle-income economy status by 2030.
Upper middle-income economies are characterised by strong infrastructure investment.
Indeed, President Mnangagwa and the Second Republic’s vision has been clear from day one.
