Chronicle Editor
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa last week had a very busy schedule as he presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the US$1 billion integrated Dinson Iron and Steel Plant near Mvuma, officially opened a giant NatPharm Warehouse in Harare and also capped 538 graduates at the Harare Institute of Technology among other Government programmes.
The giant steel plant project and the warehouse add to the many positives that the economy is recording as the Second Republic works to transform the people’s lives across the country.
Government and its development partners such as the Chinese global investment group, Tsingshan Holdings’ subsidiary Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco) is implementing a number of infrastructural development projects which are key for the country’s industrialisation and modernisation.
The nation at the same time continues to churn out graduates from its universities and colleges that have been prepared to take a leading role in the country’s industrialisation.
The revival of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco) has taken long and the coming on board of Disco is therefore welcome development.
Zimbabwe is next month celebrating yet another milestone when the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 is commissioned. The plant is 97 percent complete and is expected to start feeding electricity into the national grid next month.
The unit 7 is a component of the US$1,4 billion Hwange unit 7 and 8 expansion project which is expected to produce a combined 600 MW. Unit 8 is set for commissioning early next year and the completion of the project is expected to drastically reduce the country’s electricity import bill.
The project is again being implemented with the assistance from the Chinese Government which has proved to be Zimbabwe’s all- weather friend.
Not long ago President Mnangagwa commissioned a US$7 million detonators plant at Intrachem Explosives Company in Kwekwe.
The new plant which has an import substitution value of up to US$20 million per year, is set to boost production of mining explosives at the company.
The ongoing establishment of new companies and revival of closed mines and companies, is a confirmation of Zimbabwe’s determination to use its local resources to grow the economy despite the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the United Kingdom, the United States of America and their allies.
Guided by its development philosophy: Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabaninilo (Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo), Government continues to invite Zimbabwean professionals in the diaspora to return home and lead in the development of their country which is endowed with vast natural resources.
Government is engaging local companies in projects such as road construction and the companies have proved that they have the capacity and requisite skills to undertake such projects much to the chagrin of the country’s detractors.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter