In his weekly column published in The Sunday Mail
yesterday, President Mnangagwa said a new world order was emerging, and
Zimbabwe must respond appropriately and creatively to keep abreast with fast
moving global events.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
President Mnangagwa said Russia and Ukraine were big
players in the global economy, principally in the key sectors of technologies,
agriculture and energy.
“The ongoing conflict between them has reverberated
globally, including disrupting world markets and supply chains, all against
post-pandemic fragilities already afflicting the world,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe will have to respond
appropriately to the developments taking place.
“A new world order is emerging, and Zimbabwe must respond
appropriately and creatively, so it is not sidelined or placed on the receiving
end of these fast-paced global changes.
Our activities in the past two months, and going forward,
should be understood from that broad, regional, continental and global
perspective,” he said.
President Mnangagwa noted that Zimbabwe had equally been a
victim of unilateralism where illegal sanctions were imposed by the West just
as NATO was provocatively making an eastward expansion.
“Zimbabwe, itself already a victim of Western
unilateralism, is in the full glare of all these global headwinds. Against
NATO’s provocative eastward expansion in Europe, and Russian Federation’s robust
response to that threat of encirclement by NATO, a new situation has arisen
which requires that we re-map the world with a view to finding our own place
and securing our interests,” he said.
“Like in the case of Zimbabwe which has endured more than
two decades of illegal sanctions, the conflict raging in Eastern Europe has
made many nations realise how powerful nations and global interests still
function on old and archaic notions of “spheres of influence”, and that they
will not hesitate to use unilateral economic coercion to bully
independent-minded states unwilling to kowtow to their whims and interests.”
President Mnangagwa said the situation called for great
changes where nations engage, reach out for safe and gainful partnerships,
transact internationally, relate or submit to global regulatory frameworks and
institutions.
“Fortuitously, Africa had a premonition of this meltdown in
world affairs, and had already embarked on a robust framework for continental
free trade, underpinned by Agenda 2063.
This was a stroke of far-sightedness, indeed a new
trajectory which must find justification and impetus in the ensuing global
turbulence. Russia and Ukraine, the two nations in conflict, are big players in
the global economy, principally in the key sectors of technologies, agriculture
and energy,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said the fact that Russia was now
demanding payment in domestic currency, just as China was equally challenging
the dominance of the United States dollar, demonstrated a shift in the global
epicentre.
“The hitherto unchallenged currency and medium of
international trade is being shaken as a key global player. Russia, demands
payment in its domestic currency. The Chinese Yuan is also challenging dominance
of the United States dollar. All this points to a shift in the global
epicentre,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe has escalated its
international engagements consistent with its policy of engagement and
re-engagement coupled with its economic policies such as the National
Development Strategy 1.
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