Lessons for Zimbabwe from the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Our Economic Diplomacy, founded on our two-part policy of Engagement Re-engagement, is thus in full swing.

Under the Second Republic, we committed ourselves to ensuring Zimbabwe attains upper middle-income status by 2030.

The road to that desired end-state has been defined successively by the Transitional Stabilisation Plan, TSP, and our National Development Strategy 1, NDS1, and its sequels.

The changing global situation which is increasingly being shaped by conflict and unilateralism, enjoins us to look to ourselves, to our region and to our continent primarily.

Beyond ourselves, our region and our continent, we face growing uncertainty which we can only offset through creative and responsive diplomacy.

Zimbabwe’s external relations and interpretation of engagement and re-engagement must reckon with this stark reality.

So, too, should our citizens as they seek to understand how Government’s external relations programme is being shaped.

Foremost, Zimbabwe must be a food-secure Nation.

This means ensuring our agriculture is modernised through mechanisation for greater efficiencies and productivity.

We will not stop at anything to achieve food security for our Nation.

For that to happen, we need to secure vital inputs for our agricultural sector.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with the resultant turbulence in global food prices, is a wake-up call to us all.

Global supply chains both for fertilisers and grains stand imperilled by that conflict situation.

This puts accent on home solutions.

My engagement with the sister Republic of Mozambique, principally in respect of thermal gas-related projects we jointly envisage in the Buzi area of Mozambique, aim to secure energy, and fertiliser needs for our agriculture.

Mozambique also offered land for joint agricultural projects which we need to pursue both at inter-state and people-to-people levels.

Mozambique welcomes our participation in their agricultural sector.

We should seize the opportunity.

For Zimbabwe to industrialise sustainably, she requires sufficient energy.

Presently, we face a deficit on our energy needs.

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