President returns from 3-day forum

Harare Bureau
President Mugabe arrived home yesterday from the three-day World Economic Forum on Africa held in Durban, South Africa.

He was met at the Harare International Airport by Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko; Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province, Miriam Chikukwa; Government ministers; service chiefs and senior Government officials.

President Mugabe addressed the forum on Thursday during a plenary dubbed “Eyes on Fragile States”, where he made a strong case against Zimbabwe being classified as a fragile State.

Last year, the Fragile States Index, which is produced by a United States-based think tank Fund for Peace in collaboration with Foreign Policy Magazine, curiously ranked Zimbabwe in the same category as strife-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The ranking purportedly assesses vulnerability to conflict or collapse.

According to President Mugabe, Zimbabwe is relatively in good stead than other countries as it has an educated human resource and bountiful minerals.

“Zimbabwe is one of the most highly developed countries in Africa and after South Africa, I want to know which country has that level of development that we have in Zimbabwe,” said President Mugabe during Thursday’s plenary.

“We have 14 universities, our literacy is over 90 percent and it’s the highest in Africa. Yes, we have our problems. Yes, certainly, but we have resources more than an average country in the world.”

Zimbabwe, which is also expecting a bumper harvest this year, has more than 44 minerals.

And just as the case with chrome, the country also holds the world’s second-largest platinum reserves after neighbouring South Africa.

During his visit to South Africa, President Mugabe had an opportunity to hold bilateral discussions with the host President Jacob Zuma.