By Leopold Munhende
President Emmerson Mnangagwa Wednesday took advantage of the ongoing US-Africa Summit in Mozambique to preach his re-engagement gospel as he battles to attract much-needed investment in Zimbabwe.
Mnangagwa urged African leaders, potential investors and others in attendance not to leave any country behind when it comes to development of Africa but leverage on its 1.2 billion population for investment.
“The vision is that we do not need to leave any single country on the continent behind. We need to move together.
“Our economies are at different levels of development, modernisation or industrialisation. It is necessary that if we are together, we can help each other develop and modernise our economies,” said Mnangagwa.
He added, “Yes we are 1.2 billion which is a huge market. Above ourselves and as a bloc, I think we can make a statement in relation to our partners and our partners will recognise that we are strong and we are a unit to be recognised and dealt with as a unique African continent.”
Mnangagwa was expected to meet US envoys who include Head of African Affairs in the US Department of State Tibor Nagy on Wednesday night in what could be one of his greatest milestones since taking over from predecessor Robert Mugabe in 2017.
His New York visit failed to produce the much-sought meeting with US President Donald Trump and a meeting at the summit could signal the thawing of relations that have seen imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe for over a decade by the super-power.
Recently, Zimbabwe launched formal engagement with the European Union (EU) after years of animosity.
The four-day summit which is being co-hosted by US based Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and ends this Friday, brings together business leaders from the African continent and some 10 presidents.
Mnangagwa is expected to witness the launch of America’s US$60 billion US-Africa Business Summit with hopes Zimbabwe could get a slice.
The US$60 billion purse comes barely a year after China launched its own African investment vehicle, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which is worth an equal amount.
