ED spotlights several Second Republic achievements

Bindura (New Ziana) – President Emerson Mnangagwa on Friday trumpeted his governments’ reforms which had attracted huge investments in both economic and social sectors against the backdrop of punishing Western sanctions.
Just a day earlier, he oversaw the signing of a multi-billion dollar deal in which platinum miner Zimplats pledged to invest a record $1.4 billion in new mining and associated projects.
In preceding days, the President commissioned Eureka gold mine in Guruve which had been dormant for years, a development which has created employment for hundreds of local people and is expected to boost gold production and earning in the country.
Speaking at the ruling Zanu PF national people’s conference in Bindura, President Mnangagwa implored Zimbabweans to remain focused and resilient to develop the country.
He said the country would primarily use local resources to develop, in defiance of two decades long sanctions slapped on Zimbabwe by the West over land reforms.
“Mining sector performance is on track, buoyed by favourable international commodity prices, Exploration and expansion programs are on course, new mines are being established while those previously closed such as Eureka and Shamva are being re-opened. We are also exploring oil in this province and prospects are promising. The capacitation of artisanal miners is ongoing hence strategies to realise a $12 billion mining sector by 2023 are well underway,” he said.
“In line with the promises made in the 2018 election manifesto and previous congress and conference resolutions our economy is projected to grow by 7.8 percent and is the highest growing economy on the continent.
“Zimbabwe has opened for business and instituted far reaching ease of doing business reforms these have seen foreign direct investment complemented by local investments and diaspora remittances reaching unprecedented levels.”
President Mnangagwa said the development agenda that government was steadfastly pursuing was also in fulfilment of the ruling Zanu PF party’s election promises.
He said as part of this, government was pursuing a program of rural industrialisation aimed at ensuring that rural communities become centres of employment and tertiary production.
In pursuit of this, President Mnangagwa had over the past few days commissioned several rural based innovations such as the marula processing plant in Mwenezi, Masvingo Province and the tomato processing plant in Mutoko.
He said local empowerment was the thrust of the Second Republic, citing that 100 people would be employed at the Mwenezi marula plant.
“More factories will be set up going into the future. So I call upon party structures to take leadership and drive this emerging development model which is already creating jobs for our people in the rural areas,” he said.
President Mnangagwa also highlighted several infrastructure development projects that were taking shape including the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare highway.
“Since the 2018 general elections we have undertaken infrastructure development at an unprecedented rate,” he said.
“The government funded emergency road rehabilitation programme is attending to all of the country’s roads in both rural and urban areas. Tremendous progress has also been achieved on the Harare-Masvingo-Beit Bridge highway, other key projects are set to commence soon such as the Beit Bridge-Bulawayo- Victoria Falls highway.
“And this is being done by our own people. In the past we thought that we needed people from elsewhere to come and make highways, (but we realised) that No our own people have the capacity, have the knowledge and the skills and the technology to do it.”
President Mnangagwa added; “The modernisation of our borders and air transport infrastructure are also progressing well. When construction is completed, our Harare airport will match any other airport on this planet.”
In the energy sector, he said projects meant to ensure power supply self sufficiency were on course while in the health sector increased funding was being targeted to ensure the continued availability of critical services.
President Mnangagwa also singled out the importance of the devolution program in the development of the country.
He said devolution funds were being utilised for various infrastructure projects such as the construction of schools, clinics, water and sanitation facilities.
“What is critically important is that the people in the district make local decisions as to what they want first. They set the priorities of the projects which we then finance,” he said.
New Ziana