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Joseph Madzimure, Herald Senior Writer
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi officially opened the 114th edition of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show this year with his trip being the third to Harare in the past two months. President Mnangagwa has also visited Maputo on several occasions.
Zimpapers Politics Hub Senior Writer Joseph Madzimure (JM) had an interview with Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Victor Matemadanda (VM) on the cordial relations that exist between the two countries.
JM: Can you tell us about the relationship that exists between Zimbabwe and Mozambique?
VM: Zimbabwe and Mozambique enjoy historic relations, which date back to the time before both countries attained their independence. They collaborated during their liberation struggles for political, socio-economic, and cultural empowerment of the people, towards self-determination and against colonial bondage.
The two Heads of State and Governments are close brothers that cannot be separated: President Mnangagwa and President Nyusi. They are close and at times we as officers follow what they would have agreed already in terms of visits.
JM: President Nyusi said his relationship with President Mnangagwa is centred on the development of their two countries and people. What does that mean?
VM: When President Nyusi was saying that they are working towards the development of their two countries and people, he was referring to projects that are being undertaken between Zimbabwe and Mozambique at bilateral level.
Yes, there are also other projects that are being under taken by Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana with others being done at the SADC level and others at continental level.
JM: The Second Republic, under President Mnangagwa, is revamping the economy using local resources under the mantra “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo.” What are the benefits of such a strategy?
VM: The sister republics realised that relying on donor funding is never going to take us anywhere, so the general understanding and belief is that we have to use our local resources to develop ourselves.
The two nations have realised that we can only develop ourselves economically, socially and politically using local resources, riding on President Mnangagwa’s mantra ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’.
JM: What is the scope of the relationship and which areas of cooperation are you focusing on?
VM: There is economic development and human resource development in terms of understanding for example the technological advancement that we have at the moment.
We have to train our people to understand and be able to use technology to the advantage of our two countries.
This year Southern Africa, including Mozambique and Zimbabwe were affected by the El Nino induced drought and are among the most affected. However, we have to find ways of beating back hunger using modern equipment and using the human resources that we have. We must be able to develop ourselves.
We have the Pfumvudza concept (conservation agriculture) in Zimbabwe. The country has also embarked on intensive development of irrigation even at village level.
We now have village business units where villagers do their gardening. Every village has got a borehole which farmers use to irrigate their crops and water livestock. This is critically important to human development in terms of social and health security. So we exchange and share those ideas. What we think has worked in Zimbabwe is shared with our neighbour, Mozambique so that they try and see if that can also work in their country.
In return, whatever Mozambique thinks is important for development they also share with us and this is the kind of relationship that exists between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Mozambique has discovered quite a substantial amount of liquefied gas and oil. In terms of natural resource, Mozambique has got many resources where electricity can be generated and we are together in some of these projects to make sure that there is sustainability in terms of electricity supply in SADC and Africa at large.
Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa should benefit from that, so that is the kind of development shared by the sister republics.
JM: Last month, President Mnangagwa was in Maputo where he met President Nyusi and Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi for the signing of the tripartite agreement on the new Techobanine deep water port in Mozambique. Can you shed light on that?
VM: The proposed construction of the deep water port in Matutuine District and a 1 700km railway line linking Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana, at a cost of about US$6,5 billion, is a milestone for Southern Africa and speaks to the broader regional integration dream of widening mutually beneficial investments while promoting intra-regional trade.
Scaling up collaboration and revitalising synergies has become more critical, at a time when the region is focused on bridging the infrastructure gap as part of efforts to enhance investment attractiveness and transform economies, in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) ideals, which closely connect with the African Union’s “Agenda 2063”.
The implementation of the Techobanine deep water port has been under discussion since around 2011, with the major hurdle being lack of funding.
At the moment work on the new Techobanine deep water port in Mozambique and also the upgraded railway system that should run from Mozambique- Botswana through Zimbabwe, we are doing that together.
Mozambique is now capacitated to do much of the railway line construction and they have offered to help us in doing that so that we achieve the targets that we have set. The work is being done collectively. Such kind of development needs a lot of consultations and this is what our Presidents are doing. They are always in touch, always talking to each other and exchanging notes to make sure they meet the set targets.
JM: I understand some non-State armed groups are causing civil unrest in Cabo Delgado province. What is the current situation?
VM: We have a political situation in the Northern part of Mozambique, Cabo Delgado province which is obviously a cause for concern for both countries and the SADC egion.
SADC forces were deployed to repel the bandits. Rwanda is also currently in Mozambique helping to fight the extremists’ groups in Cabo Delgado.
During the peak of the extremists, President Mnangagwa would hardly spend two days without calling President Nyusi to get an appreciation of the situation on the ground.
According to President Nyusi’s words, President Mnangagwa was using his experience to try and help him in Mozambique to strategise and fight the bandits.
That is the kind of relationship that the two Presidents have and which the two countries have at a bilateral level.
Such programmes are there at a level of tripartite and multilateral, so that is what President Nyusi was referring to.
JM: Turning to the 114th edition of the Zimbabwe Agriculture Show, what can you say are the major takeaways?
VM: Mozambique needs a lot of assistance in terms of agricultural development and the coming of President Nyusi as the guest of honour at the Agricultural Show, was not by coincidence, but it was a way to show solidarity and support but also to learn on the part of Mozambique.
Mozambique needs Zimbabwe farmers to go and help the agricultural sector. Nearly every province, especially those that are rural based have asked us to help them be able to recruit Zimbabwean farmers so that they get into joint ventures with their Mozambican counterparts.
I have gone to most of the provinces in Mozambique, there are vast tracts of virgin land that need to be taped.
Mozambique also has plenty of water sources that can be used for irrigation purposes and there are some areas such as Chokwe; they have thousands of hectares of land where rice can be grown without much labour in terms of water supply.
It is readily available.
An agreement has been reached to involve Zimbabweans in rice production in Chokwe and other areas where rice can be grown.
President Nyusi has always wanted to have Zimbabwean farmers coming to Mozambique to help in the development of agricultural sector and also to have a process of skills exchange in agriculture.
Should the Zimbabweans decide to go back to Zimbabwe at some stage, they leave the know-how and experience of farming to their Mozambican counterparts.
JM: Thank you Ambassador for the insights.
VM: It’s my pleasure.
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