Online Reporter
Garikai Fadzi in ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
THE African continent should allocate more local resources to combat outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, Mpox and Marburg, President Mnangagwa has said.
Addressing the African Union High-Level Meeting on Domestic Health Financing yesterday, President Mnangagwa highlighted that Zimbabwe, for its part, is working to ensure at least 13 percent of its annual budget is directed towards the health sector, in line with the Abuja Declaration.
“I am pleased that my Government’s allocation towards health has increased significantly from 9,8 percent of the national budget in 2024 to 13,01 percent in 2025, as we move towards the 15 percent Abuja target,” he said.
He outlined some of the innovative ways Zimbabwe has adopted to raise revenue for the health sector.
“Zimbabwe has successfully introduced innovative tax regimes for health, including the Health Levy, which is a mobile airtime tax, and the sugar in drinks tax, to combat the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases.
“Most recently, we have introduced a fast-food tax to further support our health initiatives and act as a disincentive for the consumption of fast-foods,” he said.
Earlier, the President’s busy schedule saw him receive Sheikh Shakhboot Al Nayan, Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates.
The Emirati dignitary visited President Mnangagwa at his hotel.
The UAE is Zimbabwe’s second largest trading partner after South Africa.
Speaking after the meeting, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Professor Amon Murwira, described relations between the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe as strong since the two countries opened embassies in 2018 and 2019.
“Since we began opening our embassies between 2018 and 2019, the UAE has moved to second position in our trade statistics.
‘Our number one trading partner is South Africa and now our number two trading partner is the UAE,” he said.
Zimbabwe exports precious minerals and agricultural products while importing manufactured goods and essential commodities from the UAE.
Professor Murwira said that the UAE was eager to access the SADC market.
“Our President is the chairperson of the SADC region and all the discussions that took place were in the context of the region, and in the context of us as a republic.”
President Mnangagwa was also invited for an official visit to the United Arab Emirates.
