PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday launched the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which is anchored on economic growth and institutional reforms aimed at attaining an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
The policy document aptly tables policies, institutional
reforms and 14 national priorities needed between 2021-2025 for the country to
achieve an upper middle-income economy status in line with Vision 2030.
Government has also developed a robust monitoring and evaluation system that
will anchor the NDS1.
Some of the national priorities include economic growth and
stability and it is envisaged that the economy will record average GDP growth
rates of above five percent; stabilise the forex exchange rate and maintain a
low inflation.
It will also result in increased gross national income
(GNI) per capita income to levels of more than US$3 000 by 2025 and create more
than 700 000 formal jobs thereby reducing extreme poverty.
NDS1, which is the successor to the Transitional
Stabilisation Programme (TSP), which ran from October 2018 to this year, is the
second step of the Government’s determination to attain Vision 2030 as
enunciated by the President.
The blueprint, running under the theme “Towards a
Prosperous and Empowered Upper Middle-Income Society by 2030,” will be
underpinned by five annual national budgets.
Speaking during the launch of the NDS1 in Harare, President
Mnangagwa said focus will be on strategic infrastructure in energy, water and
sanitation, ICT and transport sectors which enable Zimbabwe to be more
efficient and competitive.
“Riding on the momentum realised during the phase of the
TSP, the construction, rehabilitation and modernisation of key infrastructure
will continue with greater speed under the NDS1. Focus will be on strategic infrastructure
in energy, water and sanitation, ICT and transport sectors which enable
Zimbabwe to be more efficient and competitive,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said Government, through the NDS1, will
prioritise citizens’ access to affordable and quality settlement in urban and
rural areas. The NDS1 targets to deliver 220 000 housing units in both rural
and urban areas by 2025.
The President said while the exploitation and management of
natural resources is complex, the National Development Strategy framework will
ensure sustainable growth of the mining sector towards the US$12 billion mining
sector economy.
He said the modernisation of the manufacturing sector will
be speeded up through deliberate, practical innovations and inventions to
enable the country’s goods and products to meet the needs of citizens and also
competitively penetrate global value chains and markets.
“The constant tracking of the objective of Vision 2030 will
be essential as we go forward. The NDS1 will focus on accelerated growth of the
economy between 2021 and 2025 leveraging on our agriculture, mining,
manufacturing and tourism sectors,” he said.
“The Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy
will continue to be boldly implemented towards a vibrant US$8,2 billion
agriculture sector that will achieve national food and nutrition security.”
President Mnangagwa said agriculture, as a critical sector,
will also help facilitate increased exports, innovative market driven
production, productivity and investment.
“The Second Republic is about production, productivity and
action hence the implementation and realisation of the NDS1 targets will be
closely monitored and evaluated through appropriate frameworks. A robust
monitoring and evaluation mechanism of NDS1 will be established to ultimately
report to Cabinet, which will assume full responsibility of the implementation
processes and take timely, remedial and responsive policy decisions as
required,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said the success of Vision 2030 requires reinvigorated
and re-engineered Government institutions which are aligned to the requirements
of the national development agenda.
The President said human capital development and innovation
will play a critical role in ensuring that the country achieves sustainable
growth, industrialisation and modernisation during the strategic period.
“The development and deployment of appropriate skills,
competencies and capabilities is set to be accelerated under the NDS1. The
promotion of excellence, innovation, integrity, honour and hard work among our
people should also be our focus into the future,” he said.
Consequently, said the President, the monetary sector has
attained stability with an encouraging trajectory on month on month inflation.
He said the financial sector is in good condition with the country having
started to register positive national reserves.
“In view of the above, the NDS1 will therefore be rolled
out under better economic conditions than TSP and has bold strategies and
policies to catapult economic growth,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said the attainment of Vision 2030 is partly premised on
the devolution and decentralisation agenda, which empowers provinces, districts
and communities to implement development strategies which are informed by their
respective resource endowments and competitive advantages.
“In line with the devolution and decentralisation agenda
provinces will be developing their provincial plans aligned to the NDS1 based
on their respective resource endowments and comparative advantages,” said the
President.
The NDS1 contain strategies, programmes and projects aimed
at eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable livelihoods of the poor, women
and youth empowerment and support to people living with disabilities, in line
with Vision 2030.
President Mnangagwa said the availability of social
protection for vulnerable groups which include persons with disabilities,
children and the elderly, will be enhanced under the NDS1 towards the
achievement of development.
“My Government remains committed to the implementation of
the NDS1. In keeping with my administration’s prudent use of public resources,
good stewardship, purposeful and strategic deployment of our resources, the
implementation process will insist on value for money and visible results which
impact on the day to day well-being of our people and growth of the economy as
a whole,” he said.
TSP’s main objective was to stabilise the economy and
create a solid foundation for the Medium-Term Plans namely NDS1 and NDS2.
Notable progress has been made in the implementation of the
TSP, including fiscal consolidation, exchange rate stability and a number of
achievements in various pillars.
Vision 2030 reflects the collective aspirations and
determinations of the people of Zimbabwe towards a prosperous and empowered
upper middle-income society within the next 10 years.
Zimbabwe’s next step towards realisation of Vision 2030 is
the five-year National Development Strategy of 2021-2025 (NDS1). The third step
will be National Development Strategy 2 to be implemented from 2026 to 2030.
The emphasis of the NDS1 is on bold strategies that will
change the status quo. Cabinet last week approved NDS1, which has been hailed
by economic experts, multilateral agencies and civic society as critical to
economic recovery.
Major objective under Food Security and Nutrition Security
is to improve food self-sufficiency and to retain the regional breadbasket
status by increasing food self-sufficiency from the current level of 45 percent
to 100 percent, reduce food insecurity from the high of 59 percent recorded in
2020 to less than 10 percent by 2025 as well as increase maize production from
907 629 tonnes in 2020 to 3 million tonnes by 2025 including increasing beef
production from 49 115 tonnes in 2020 to 110 000 tonnes by 2025.
The focus areas under Governance include public service
delivery; justice delivery and national unity, peace and reconciliation and
combating corruption in all its forms, among others.
Under the infrastructure and utilities, the policy document
targets an increase in power supply from the current installed capacity of
2317MW to 3467 MW by the year 2025, construction of additional 280km of
transmission and distribution network by 2025 as well as increasing access to
potable water from 77,3 percent to at least 78,3 percent by 2025. Herald
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