News facts
The Herald, Zimbabwe
President Mnangagwa has assured local and foreign investors that his administration will protect their rights by making conditions conducive for investment.
He made the pledge yesterday in Harare while officially opening a Water Infrastructure Investment Conference where he also launched the National Climate Policy and Climate Smart Agriculture Manual for Agriculture Education in Zimbabwe.
The conference was meant to mobilise funding for the development of over 30 water infrastructure projects that on completion will bring water storage capacity to over 70 billion cubic metres.
The projects showcased during the conference were given National Project Status.
“We are ready to embrace investors as we seek to improve our status as a player in the regional, continental and international socio-economic affairs,” he said. “As Government, we are committed to honour the rights of investors, including the protection of their investments at law.
“Under the new political dispensation, we observe and respect the rights of investors and property rights. As Government we are prepared to listen to investor concerns and address them with the aim of producing win-win solutions. This is a commitment we lodge, never to drift from.”
President Mnangagwa said water infrastructure development had been one of the Government’s key priorities since 1980.
He said the advent of climate change gave a sense of urgency to the need to invest in the development of the sector.
“We are aware that the limited water infrastructure inhibits the investments of productive capital, raises production costs and leads to the loss of production time due to water shortages, resulting in high prices of finished goods,” said President Mnangagwa.
President Mnangagwa said Government was aware of the connection between water availability and upholding of human dignity, poverty eradication, gender equality, hunger eradication, good health, climate change and sustainable communities.
“I am pleased that we are also launching the National Climate Policy which spells out how we can plan to mitigate the effects of climatic change on our environment, human, animal and plant life.
“My Government under its agriculture programmes needs at least 350 000 hectares of arable land under irrigation. To achieve this, we need adequate water bodies throughout the country which will assure national food security, as well as beneficiation and export of surplus produce.
“Investment in water infrastructure will hasten the modernisation of our agriculture and complement our renewed mechanisation drive; facilitate the development of our aquaculture under Command Fisheries, Livestock and general cropping programmes as we seek to increase productivity.” Please read the full article here.
Climate-Smart Agriculture Manual
For more information about the CTCN work in Zimbabwe, please visit here.