President Emerson Mnangagwa has boasted that his administration has successfully soldiered on with its reform agenda without external financial support.
Mnangagwa made the remarks when he officially opening the Sixth Session of the African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development currently underway in Victoria Falls.
“As one of our tools of engagement and re-engagement strategy, we are determined to see through the IMF Staff Monitored Programme which supports our Reform Agenda as well as the achievement of the associated reform targets. In doing this, it should be understood that we are undertaking the reforms without the requisite external financial support as is the norm,” said Mnangagwa.
He added that his government remains committed to fully implement reforms in a bid to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Sustainable development in Africa cannot be achieved without comprehensive socio-economic development. In the case of Zimbabwe, we remain committed to fully implement the political, economic and legislative reforms,” he said adding that the funding gap for SDGs remains large in the process weighing down on the attainment of the set goals on the continent.
Mnangagwa appealed for investment in the agriculture sector so as to curb poverty and hunger.
“An array of investment in agriculture and its associated value chains is the starting point in addressing hunger and extreme poverty which stubbornly cling to the narratives of Africa.
“Smart and precision agriculture must be prioritized to tackle hurdles that limit productivity, low mechanization and infrastructure development as well as capital inflows into agriculture.
“My country has made strides to finance and modernize agriculture through programmes we named Command Agriculture and the Presidential Input Support Scheme,” he said.
“As Zimbabwe, we are convinced that the interlinked threats and challenges to sustainable development confronting our continent require everyone to share experiences, responsibility and to contribute to the attainment of a common vision and implementation framework,” added Mnangagwa.
