Online Reporter
Nduduzo Tshuma in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have extended their Government Experiences Exchange Programme (GEEP) to 2030, a move expected to further strengthen public sector capacity and improve service delivery under the Second Republic.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit, where the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya, represented Zimbabwe while the UAE was represented by Her Excellency Maryam bint Ahmed Al Hammadi, Minister of State and Secretary General of the Cabinet.
Dr Rushwaya said the extension follows an agreement signed in February 2023, which expired in December last year.
“In February 2023, we signed an agreement to cooperate with the UAE on a Government exchange programme, and this was expiring in December 2025,” said Dr Rushwaya.
“So we have further signed an agreement to extend the duration of the cooperation from 2026 to 2030 in areas of increasing the capacity and performance of Government ministries in the delivery of services.”
Dr Rushwaya said the programme has already delivered tangible results, particularly in strengthening skills among senior Government officials.
“We have benefited in areas of training some of our senior officers as we speak. Some of the officers graduated last week in areas of project monitoring, financial management and capacity building in terms of project implementation,” he said.
The cooperation has also benefited Zimbabwean youths, with a group of ICT students receiving specialised training in the UAE.
“We also had a group of ICT students who were trained here by the Government of the UAE,” said Dr Rushwaya.
Dr Rushwaya said the extension of the agreement illustrates the Government’s commitment to adopting global best practices to enhance service delivery.
“This is an extension of an existing agreement that was signed initially in 2023 to enhance our capacity as Government to improve on service delivery,” he said.
Peter Tanyanyiwa