Online Reporter
AS 2025 draws to a close, it brings to a culmination not just a year, but a significant chapter in our national story — the successful implementation of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
In reflecting on this period, President Mnangagwa’s final Cabinet address was more than a review; it was a powerful affirmation of a nation on the move, built by its own people, for its own people, under the enduring philosophy “Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo.”
The narrative of the Second Republic is increasingly one of tangible progress and renewing foundations.
In the face of undeniable global headwinds, the resilience demonstrated by our economy is a testament to the strong policy coordination and fiscal prudence that have been instituted. The stabilisation of the ZiG currency and a firming Gross Domestic Product are not mere statistics on a page.
They are the bedrock of growing business confidence and the seeds for future investment. This macroeconomic stability is the essential precondition for the shared prosperity we all seek.
Beyond the numbers lies a quiet revolution in how our Government operates. The institutionalisation of performance contracts and results-oriented digital platforms represents a fundamental shift towards accountability and efficiency.
This is not abstract bureaucracy; it is a direct commitment to improving how citizens access services. The active efforts to curb red tape, along with the Chief Secretary’s visits to ministries to streamline operations, signal a Government that is increasingly listening, adapting, and focusing on delivery.
This evolving, citizen-focused administration is a critical and hopeful development for every Zimbabwean who interacts with the State.
The progress spans our nation’s breadth. The National Energy Compact is a forward-looking framework to ensure reliable and clean power — a catalyst for every other sector.
From infrastructure rising across the landscape to reinvigorated mining, manufacturing, and tourism industries, the signs of construction and production are visible. Critically, this development is being linked to social empowerment.
Gains in education, skills development, and targeted programmes for youth, women, and veterans of the liberation struggle ensure that the trajectory of growth aims to lift all segments of society.
As we stand at the transition from NDS1 to its successor, a legitimate and growing sense of hope prevails.
The mechanisms being embedded — like regular whole-of-government assessments and the directive to maintain services even during the festive season — show a commitment not just to sporadic achievement, but to sustained momentum.
The call for ministers to reflect on their annual targets is a call for continuous improvement, a refusal to settle.
The path forward is undoubtedly still under construction, but the blueprints are proving sound. The unity and hard work of the Zimbabwean people, from the Cabinet chamber to the village council, are building something durable.
The journey of national development is a marathon, not a sprint. The successes of NDS1 have strengthened our national muscles and clarified our direction.
The closing message for 2025, therefore, is not one of complacent celebration but of confident continuation.
The foundations of stability, reform, and collective purpose have been laid. As we look to the future, there is a powerful hope rooted in evidence: hope for more reliable energy, more efficient services, broader economic participation, and a nation that continues to be built, owned, and led by its own people.
The Second Republic’s legacy is still being written, but the opening chapters provide firm reason to believe in the promise of the pages to come.
