The Sunday Mail
Editor’s Brief
Victoria Ruzvidzo
The historic and much-talked about coronation of King Charles III happened yesterday, attended by about 2 000 invited guests who included President Mnangagwa.
Millions from across the world followed proceedings that were being live-streamed on various platforms.
We say congratulations to the king.
We are glad that President Mnangagwa was invited to attend the coronation despite dissenting voices in some quarters in the UK.
They were too minute to change the UK’s stance as relations between the two reach another level.
His presence there was obviously not just an addition to the number of attendees, but came from a deliberate and intentional invitation for one of the global leaders, whose presence mattered.
This is of utmost significance in the country’s geopolitics. Times are changing, as they say.
You cannot put a good man down, they also say.
In Zimbabwe, we are celebrating this overture as it reflects improving relations between Zimbabwe and some of its long-lost friends.
The President has clearly stated that we are an enemy to none but a friend to all. This is a healthy stance and the results are showing.
This is also a culmination of the Second Republic’s engagement and re-engagement strategy.
Zimbabwe has embarked on a deliberate mission to re-establish good relations with those it had savoured ties with while consolidating already existing relations.
This is working well in the global village that the world has increasingly become.
This is highly commendable.
Zimbabwe is a legitimate member of the global community with every right to occupy a decent seat at the global table. And so it is with other countries. Years or is it decades of being treated as a bastard child are fast becoming a mere piece of history. The globe, the West in particular, is seeing sense in re-establishing relations with Zimbabwe and this is for mutual benefits.
Zimbabwe is not a charity case, but has so much to offer to the world and vice versa. So, smart partnership and prosper-thy-neighbour strategies are the way to go.
This country is strategically positioning itself to achieve its dream of an upper middle- income economy by 2030 and the response has been overwhelming. Present challenges will be overcome through such aggressive stances, as has been adopted by the President and his team.
The visit has not just been about the coronation, but the Zimbabwean delegation has taken time to meet investors in the UK, who have demonstrated an appetite to do business with and in this country.
The President on Friday met UK investors and Zimbabwean diasporans keen to establish businesses back home. Already, this is a major win in Zimbabwe’s bag, resulting from the invitation. Zimbabwe would surely not waste such a golden opportunity
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said as much.
“His Excellency was able to lead us into a discussion with investors here in the UK. The investors come from a variety of sectors — mining, agro-processing technology sector, financial services and infrastructure, right across the board.
“It was really pleasing to see this spread of investors . . . the President was able to make it known that indeed Zimbabwe is open for business, from wherever they come and that investors from the UK are indeed welcome to Zimbabwe and we notice that they are keen to invest in Zimbabwe and this is really pleasing,” he said in an interview with Herald’s political editor Fungi Kwaramba.
Investors have the whole world to choose from for an investment destination and when they take notice of developments in a country and decide to venture into it, this should not be taken lightly.
It is a huge endorsement of current efforts to grow the economy.
This reaffirms words by the European Union Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst Von Kirchmann at the recent Zimbabwe International Trade Fair that Europe is excited about prospects in Zimbabwe. The EU exhibited at the fair for the first time in decades.
The 27-member strong bloc, already the biggest market for Zimbabwe’s horticultural products, has said it is set to do more business in terms of trade and investment.
A UK investor, Ashis Patel of Growth Capital, said: “I lead a group that is listed on the JSE. We are in financial services and fintec as well, we are very much interested in investing in the private-public partnerships with the likes of NetOne to create a whole new digital banking service for the whole region that can service both local communities, SMEs and also the diaspora, particularly those living in regional countries that can help promote investment and development of the agriculture, as well as commercial sectors.”
This is great news by any measure. Better days lie ahead for our country.
A number of countries from all the regions of the world have expressed similar desire to set up shop here. Already, a number of investments from China, Russia, the US, Belarus and Rwanda, among other countries, are at various stages of completion.
What remains is for the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA), ZimTrade and other stakeholders to ensure timeous facilitation of investment and operationalisation of trade agreements between Zimbabwe and other countries. We obviously do not expect them to drop the ball.
ZIDA expects at least US$4 billion worth of investments this year, with the figure set to rise to US$5 billion in 2024. This is not wishful thinking but can surely be achieved.
So, we say happy days to the king as we soak in the opportunities before us.
In God I Trust!
