Harare, (New Ziana)- President Emmerson Mnangagwa left for South Africa on Tuesday to attend the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) which will bring together African leaders and top world business executives to discuss investment and trade issues on the continent.

The WEF is an independent, international organisation whose aim is to help expand global economic interface by companies and countries by engaging business, political leaders, academia and other leaders of society.

It is the second time for President Mnangagwa to attend the WEF after his debut in Davos, Switzerland in 2018 where he used the opportunity to re-engage international investors under the mantra, ‘Zimbabwe is Open for business’.

He did not attend this year’s Davos edition in January due to opposition-led riots, ostensibly in protest against a fuel price hike.

The theme for the WEF’s conference in South Africa is “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

It covers the areas of innovation, sustainable development, digitalization and governance.

It presents Zimbabwe yet another good opportunity to market itself to world business leaders, and advance its engagement and re-engagement agenda with other nations whose leaders would also be in attendance.

Beyond the political and business leaders, delegates will also include Africans with unique stories that could help inspire others, such as Peter Tabichi, who won this year’s Global Teacher Prize for his success teaching science in a remote part of Kenya.

WEF 2019 will also launch the Africa Risk Resilience Platform, a scheme to help governments prepare for, mitigate and prevent climate and disease-related disasters with the support of the private sector.

New Ziana