Online Reporter
Nduduzo Tshuma in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will today take part in a high-level panel discussion at the historic World Governments Summit (WGS) on the future of Africa in the face of geopolitical shifts and rapid technological changes.
Yesterday, the President attended the official opening of the summit, the most successful in its 13-year history, with more than 45 global leaders in attendance.
Running under the theme “Shaping Future Governments”, the summit has attracted 700 chief executive officers from leading companies across the globe, 150 Government delegations and more than 6,000 delegates, alongside innovators and thought leaders.
The annual forum provides a global platform for dialogue on governance, economic transformation, digitalisation, sustainability and emerging technologies, bringing together decision-makers to exchange experiences and co-ordinate responses to shared global challenges.
President Mnangagwa’s participation comes as Zimbabwe continues to pursue enhanced international engagement, investment partnerships and policy-driven co-operation with global stakeholders.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira said on Monday that on the second day of the three-day summit, the President will attend the opening session, where key overviews would be presented.
“His Excellency is going to join again in the future Governments’ plenary session, which is going to be facilitated by some very prominent international news people, where he will be together with his counterparts to talk about the future of Africa,” said Prof Murwira.
He said the President will also hold several scheduled bilateral engagements.
Meanwhile, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, chief executive officer Dr Sania Nishtar, yesterday commended Zimbabwe for its strong performance in immunisation, saying the country has made remarkable progress across key vaccine programmes.
Dr Nishtar paid a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa on the sidelines of the summit here, where the two discussed Zimbabwe’s immunisation achievements and opportunities for deeper co-operation in expanding vaccine coverage.
Speaking after the meeting, Dr Nishtar said Zimbabwe’s immunisation coverage rates across routine vaccines were encouraging and reflected sustained commitment by the Government to public health.
Gavi helps to vaccinate more than half of the world’s children against deadly and debilitating infectious diseases. As part of its mission to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing the equitable and sustainable use of vaccines, the alliance has helped vaccinate more than 1,2 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, preventing more than 20,6 million future deaths.
The engagement comes as President Mnangagwa continues to use his participation at the Summit to strengthen international partnerships and advance Zimbabwe’s development priorities, including health sector resilience.
“I was very pleased to convey to him that Zimbabwe has done remarkably well when it comes to immunisation. The immunisation coverage rate for all the vaccines is very good,” said Dr Nishtar.
She singled out progress made in the rollout of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, describing the gains recorded since 2022 as significant.
“As far as the HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer, the progress from 2022 to now is remarkable, and we look forward to working with the country to explore the introduction of the malaria vaccine and the hepatitis B birth dose,” she said.
Dr Nishtar also applauded Zimbabwe for meeting its financial obligations under Gavi’s co-financing model, which requires beneficiary countries to contribute towards the cost of vaccines.
“I thanked the President for fulfilling the co-financing obligations for vaccines. As you know, Gavi works in a model where Gavi pays and the country pays for vaccines, so it is very good news that Zimbabwe has paid the full cost,” she said.
Bongani Ndlovu