First Lady hails businesspeople

Daisy Jeremani Gender Editor
THE First Lady, Cde Grace Mugabe has hailed the enthusiasm shown by businesspeople despite the challenges that the economy is facing.
Cde Mugabe, who was speaking soon after touring various stands at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) together with the First Lady of Zambia, Esther Lungu, said she was impressed with what she saw in terms of the number of companies that were exhibiting and the quality of products.

“I would like to say to the people of Zimbabwe, I know times are hard, but we are a resilient people that is why we’re here showcasing what we have produced. People from other countries will see that we’re a hard working nation,” she said.

The First Lady said Zimbabwe was moving in sync with the ideals of Sadc which emphasises on industrialisation being at the centre of economic development.

“I can see we’re moving towards that because a lot of people are establishing themselves in terms of manufacturing, producing for the country and beyond,” she said.

“It means if we produce and satisfy the market here, the surplus we can always export.”

Cde Mugabe said this was key to the country’s development and employment generation, particularly for the youths.

“After getting an education from different institutions and other facilities where people get skills training, you are giving them (youths) the fishing rod. What about the lake where they are going to fish? With what is happening here we are now saying we have given you the fishing rod, now there is the lake where you can go and fish,” she said.

The First Ladies were accompanied by the Minister of Small to Medium Enterprises, Sithembiso Nyoni.

They toured various stands among them Datlabs where the First Lady showed that she was in touch with what was happening in the country.

When an official from the company showed her one of Datlabs’ fastest selling cough mixtures, Cde Mugabe said: “This makes people drowsy right? And its one of those that is being abused by people like bronco.”

She also toured the First Family’s Alpha and Omega Dairy stand where she was shown how the company’s products have grown since the dairy’s inception in 2011.