Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga has said Africa’s agenda has to be written by Africans for Africans to preserve the continent’s interests.
Speaking during the 2nd edition of the Connect Africa Symposium, held at the ongoing Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF), the Vice President said Africa must jealously guard her interest.
“Asserting Africa’s Sovereignty and unique interests in the unfolding new global economic, and geo-political order. We are confronted by wars which are sure to re-make the global order as we have known it until now.
“Africa must jealously guard her interest and position in the unfolding global drama. We are no one’s underdog and should not be drawn into foreign wars as proxies of any power or combatant,” he said.
“We have our own challenges to confront and resolve, our mission to thrash and resolve. Gone are the days when foreign powers come to our meetings and platforms to overwrite our own agendas.”
The Vice President said there has been repeated attempts at hectoring Africa into answering to issues quite peripheral to its interests.
He said that must end, while also there has been attempts by bigger powers to fight over African resources which they want to control and to dictate partnerships and friendships for.
“We know our interests. We do not need to be lectured through rank hypocrisy. We must put our foot down as a continent, look to ourselves, and assess partnerships for how well they serve us, now and in future. That is the Africa we want and seek to build.”
Vice President Dr Chiwenga said in the context of the legacy they are looking to build for Africa, development and solidarity were harmonious steps in repositioning the continent to a position of excellence.
He said this could be achieved through industrialisation of the nations and implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
While also creating and maintaining fruitful and sustainable trade relationships, regionally, across the continent and the world, as well as leveraging Africa’s unique advantages for a place at the top of global competitiveness.
The Connect Africa Symposium which is a platform dedicated to conferring and sharing solutions to the vast social and economic challenges faced by African, this year ran under the theme: “Unlocking Africa’s potential, innovation, competitiveness and sustainable development.”
The Vice President said it spotlights the pivotal role of innovation, as it rallies Africa to identify future disruptors.
“This calls for the need to craft and implement strategies to adapt to emerging trends as the needs of our economies change,” he added.
“The key lessons for Zimbabwe, and for the rest of Africa, I believe, are as follows, the African population is by far the youngest globally, and is growing fast according to the United Nations statistics. This presents a huge potential for a domestic market like no other, for African products.”
He said innovation was the key to accelerating development in different facets, such as policymaking, infrastructure development, industrial processes and other economic activities.
In terms of the upcoming harmonised general elections, Vice President Chiwenga said: “In the same vein, as we go for our harmonised general elections this year, we intend to hold free and fair elections. Our expectation is that we all play our part in ensuring that we peacefully and independently run these elections.”
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