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Hebert Zharare in Sharm El – Sheihk, Egypt
President Mnangagwa, who is here for the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings, has a packed programme today as it emerged besides attending the meetings that include a high level Presidential dialogue, he is set to have bilateral talks with his counterpart and host President Adbel Fattah El-Sisi.
According to the AfDB programme, today is the official opening of the meetings and the Presidents, including their ministers and permanent secretaries will participate in a panel discussion dubbed: “Changing Global Financial Architecture”.
After the panel discussions, President Mnangagwa will have: “Bilateral meeting with the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, His Excellency Abdel Fattah El Sisi,” and the meeting will also be attended by ministers and permanent secretaries.
A Zimbabwean delegation is also expected to have deliberations with Minister of Advanced Industrial Technology of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and chairman of the ADOC and Petroleum and incoming chairman of UNFCC Cop28, Dr Sultan Al Jaber. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador James Manzou and Zimbabwe Ambassador to Egypt Air Marshal Retired Shebba Shumbayawonda are set to attend the meeting.
Major developments will take place on Wednesday where President Mnangagwa and his ministers will have roundtable discussions with representatives of creditor nations in relation to arrears clearance and debt resolution.
President Mnangagwa appointed AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina as champion of arrears clearance and debt resolution and former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano as high level facilitator. Dr Adesina set Wednesday as a day to discuss Zimbabwe’s case.
The President, who arrived here yesterday afternoon is joining other Heads of State and Government and close to 4 000 delegates including central banks governors and Treasury chiefs, and members of the development community attending the 58th annual meetings of the AfricanDevelopment Bank (AfDB) and the 49th meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund.
The President and his delegations arrived at Sharm El Sheihk International Airport around 1700 hours Egyptian time and was received by the country’s Ambassador here, Air Marshal Retired Shumbayawonda, senior Egyptian Government official and embassy workers.
President Mnangagwa’s delegation comprised of Acting Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Joram Gumbo, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who are also central to tomorrow’s arrears clearance and debt resolution.
From there, the President went into closed door briefings with embassy officials.
The AfDB meeting that started yesterday (Monday) to Friday, is running under the theme “Mobilising Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa” and is coming on the back of devastating effects of climate change.
The meeting is being attended by representatives of 54 African countries and 27 non-African countries who are members of the AfDB.
Speaking on Sunday in relation to the bilateral discussions between President Mnangagwa and President El-Sisi spokesperson, Mr George Charamba said: “This is a double barreled event. His Excellency the President was given a special invitation to Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) by his colleague, President Adbel Fattah El-Sisi. This is hard on the heels of excellent bilateral relations between Egypt and Zimbabwe, fortified by trade between the two countries.”
The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the AfDB Group penned a memorandum of understanding for the hosting of the 2023 annual meetings in September last year. Egypt is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with the World Bank putting its Gross Domestic Product at US$404,14 billion in 2021.
Zimbabwe has concluded a fourth Structured Dialogue Platform meeting on arrears clearance and debt resolution with creditors and development partners that was held in Harare.
Government has created Sector Working Groups (SWGS) on economic, governance and land tenure reforms that also looked at compensation of former farm owners and the resolution of Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAS) affected properties.
Said Mr Charamba: “So all those subcommittees have now collated their thoughts and findings as well as recommendations so that those four feed into the whole process in relations to creditor nations and development partners. The last such meeting was held just a week ago at Wild Geese (Harare). It was very interesting to hear the champions sharing their feedback with the President.
Zimbabwe’s total consolidated debt stands at $17.5 billion. Debt owed to international creditors stands at $14.04 billion, while domestic debt stands at $3.4 billion. Debt owed to bilateral creditors is estimated at $5.75 billion, while debt to multilateral creditors is estimated at $2.5 billion.
Online Reporter