PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa appears to have given up on the fight for the removal of West-imposed sanctions and is shifting focus to internal sources of finance for key government projects.
The country has been under sanctions since 2001 from the
United States and the European Union in response to human rights violations and
alleged electoral theft by the late former President Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa, who took over power in a November 2017, after
the military ended Mugabe’s 37-year reign, embarked on politics of
re-engagement with the hope of pushing the West to remove the sanctions, which
he claims was hurting the country by shutting the much-needed lines of credit.
But critics say human rights violations have increased
under his leadership and the US has renewed the sanctions regime, adding new
names to the list.
Mnangagwa even cajoled the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) and the African Union into supporting his anti-sanctions
crusade, but that has also failed to sway the West.
Speaking at the launch of the Agricultural Finance
Corporation (AFC) Holdings Ltd in Harare yesterday, Mnangagwa said the project
should “close the gaps” left by the sanctions imposed by the West on the
country.
“The AFC Holdings will also meet the financial gaps which
resulted following the withdrawal of support after the imposition of illegal
economic sanctions,” he said.
“Now that the irreversible land reform programme is behind
us, collective focus must be on production, productivity, profitability and
sustainability of the agriculture sector.
“To achieve this, my administration saw it fit to develop
unique and responsive alternative financial solutions such as portfolios we are
launching today. These and other strategies should make our agriculture sector
work better for our economy.”
Mnangagwa, who once said sanctions should not be used as an
excuse for failure, said his government was focused on realigning policies to
support the agriculture transformation in line with his national development
strategy and Vision 2030.
The AFC Holdings will have four subsidiaries, including the
Land Bank, meant to ensure long-term financing of the sector. It will also have
a leasing company and an insurer among its subsidiaries.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba took to
microblogging site Twitter before Mnangagwa’s speech saying:: “We have come to
realise we are on our own. With the people, the land and God, Zimbabwe has all it
takes to prosper.
“The President urges Zimbabweans to be a thinking people
who are not run on foreign ideas which operate uninterrogated.”
Mnangagwa also urged youths to use their talent locally and
not be fascinated about going overseas for employment and relying on others.
“This requires the minds of the younger generation to cease
to look across the seas for employment, but use their own inherent talent as
boys and girls to develop their mother land,” he said.
Mnangagwa told local farmers to look for potential
international markets. “We realised we have a market for one day’s breakfast in
China and that is a huge market,” he said.
“The results achieved to date under the second republic are
due to bold decisive and sometimes painful but focused planning coupled with
timely implementation.”
Meanwhile, Mnangagwa ordered Agriculture minister Anxious
Masuka to find replacements to English names on dams such as Causeway and
Silverstream. Newsday
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