Zimbabwe is open to new and emerging technologies

Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor

Zimbabwe is open to new and emerging technologies that can transform the country into a knowledge driven and industrialising upper middle-income economy by 2030 and the attainment of the African Union’s vision and Agenda 2063.

Deputy Chief Secretary for Policy Analysis, Coordination, Devolution and Development Planning in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mr Willard Manungo, said this at a genome editing workshop organised by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the National

Biotechnology Authority to help the country to increase and scale up the use of biotechnology.

“President Mnangagwa’s vision of transforming Zimbabwe into a knowledge driven and industrialising upper middle-income economy by 2030 aligns with the AU’s Vision and Agenda 2063,” he said.

“This cooperation demonstrates that Zimbabwe is indeed open for business contrary to the unsubstantiated negative perceptions that had resulted in some development partners withdrawing support. We are indeed enthused to be considered in NEPADs current development initiatives and be part of the continental agenda.”

Mr Manungo said Zimbabwe is proud to be one of the pioneers of genome editing which dovetails with the country’s current development trajectory as espoused in its vision 2030.

“The vision embeds Information and Communication Technology (ICT) across all national development strategies as an enabling tool for development. It prioritises promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, equitable development and prosperity for all, under a market economy that leverages on Zimbabwe’s natural resources and abundant human skills,” he said.

Zimbabwe is among other selected countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya and Malawi that were chosen to pilot the application of genome editing research towards product development.

Gene editing technology allows scientists to edit any gene they target, enabling them to find and change or replace genetic defects.

Gene-editing science and technology is in its early stage in Zimbabwe and most African countries and the potential of this technology is still to be harnessed.

Under the Second Republic, biotechnology is no longer seen as an option but as a necessity that should be deployed alongside other conventional methods to improve genetic gains for enhanced crop productivity and agriculture value chain transformation.

Zimbabwe is now home to one of the most established innovation ecosystems in Africa with technology and innovation hubs, agro-industrial parks and incubators, giving space to developers, designers, researchers and entrepreneurs to work on new technological solutions.

One of the most outstanding achievements in innovation includes the commercialisation of the indigenous Marula or Mapfura fruit value chain in Mwenezi’s Rutenga Growth Point.

The indigenous fruit has bi-products such as wine, cosmetic oil, edible oils, stock feed and juices.

The country has also embraced emerging technologies such as block-chain, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, Internet of things (IoT), gene editing, biotechnology and other sciences to spur industrialisation.

Zimbabwe now has the National Data Centre and the High Computing Performance Centre at the University of Zimbabwe and an array science and innovation hubs that have the capacity to produce hydrogen for energy and lithium ion batteries that are key in the transformation and industrialisation of the country.

“The Government has prioritised human capital development and innovation with emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. This supports home-grown innovations in all areas of the economy, including agri-business amongst the youth,” Mr Manungo said.

Higher and tertiary education institutions have adopted Education 5.0 centred on equipping graduates with skills that empower them to become innovative towards societal development through transformative science and technology knowledge application that delivers goods and services.

Government hopes that innovation will bridge the gap between knowledge produced in lecture rooms, laboratories and industrial production.

“Allow me to emphasise that the Government of Zimbabwe embraces and is fully committed to genome editing. This technology is preferable due to its competitive advantage of accessibility, affordability, easy and shortened time frame for application, potential to ensure higher productivity, value-addition and food security,” Mr Manungo said.

“As experts in your various capacities you have been tasked and entrusted with a responsibility to spearhead the successful implementation of this pertinent national project. It is your duty to scale up efforts so that the fruits of these engagements are impactful and life transforming, contributing to the realisation of vision 2030.”

The National Biotechnology Authority says it will develop and issue guidelines for genome editing in crops to allow for safety evaluation of genetically engineered plants.