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Senior Business Reporter
THE World Bank (WB)’s new country manager for Zimbabwe, Ms Marjorie Mpundu, has pledged to continue to develop and implement the multi-lateral lender’s strategy of engaging Harare through technical assistance and trust-funded activities.
The WB said in a statement Ms Mpundu, a Zambian national, would also continue with the bank’s thrust on supporting Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 response strategies as well maintain good relations with the Government and other stakeholders.
Zimbabwe is presently not eligible to benefit from commercial loans disbursed by the World Bank due to outstanding debts, including over due interest.
“Zimbabwe, like other countries, continues to bear the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and requires strategic support to save lives, protect livelihoods, enhance economic growth, and improve social sectors.
“Thus, our work through technical and financial assistance will seek to respond to these diverse challenges while contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction, with emphasis on post-covid-19 recovery,” Ms Mpundu said.
The World Bank is currently administering the Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund (ZIMREF) established in 2014 to strengthen the country’s systems for reconstruction and development.
ZIMREF has multi-sectoral projects that support the business environment, gender, education, public finance management, climate change, state owned enterprise reforms, transformation and restructuring as well as poverty mitigation and monitoring.
“The US$150 million World Bank Country portfolio also includes the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project, the Health Sector Development Project and the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project.
“The portfolio also includes the IFC (International Finance Corporation) advisory programmes, namely the Victoria Falls Tourism Destination Programme, Health Care Quality Assurance Assessment and Zimbabwe Warehouse Receipts Programme,” Ms Mpundu said.
Ms Mpundu, holds an LLB from the University of Zambia, an LLM (International Business) from the University of Manchester and an LLM (International Law) from Cornell Law School.
She joined the bank in 2005 as a legal associate in the legal vice presidency office. She has since held various positions in legal covering Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, including as decentralized senior counsel in Australia and in Kenya.
Recently, she was the senior strategy and operations officer in the office of the vice president for Eastern and Southern Africa.
The World Bank in June this year projected Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 3,9 percent in 2021, a significant improvement after a two-year recession.
The bank noted that economic growth this year will be led by recovery of agriculture as rains normalize, businesses adjust to limitations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and inflation slows down.
However, the Government has projected the economy to grow by 7,8 percent in 2021 from an initial forecast of 7,4 percent, driven by moderating inflation, higher commodity prices and better agriculture harvest.
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