Story by Oleen Ndori
Government says the country registered significant developments in 2024 through various initiatives led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa which have yielded political stability, economic growth and empowerment of the citizenry.
In a wide ranging interview with ZBC News this Thursday, Government Spokesperson and Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere unpacked the notable strides made by the Second Republic in the past year towards vision 2030.
These include 40 000 kilometres of roads rehabilitated and constructed between 2021 and 2024 and the ongoing Mbudzi Traffic Interchange project which has since been renamed Trabablas Interchange.
“In terms of fundamental economics, one of the key aspects related to the means of production is ownership and land. So what His Excellency the President has precisely done is to ensure that before the year 2030, there is total economic empowerment of Zimbabweans through the Presidential Title Deeds Programme, which will contribute towards macroeconomic growth in terms of the GDP, because we have so many houses in our country with no title deeds. This becomes collateral and also becomes a financial instrument that can unlock billions of dollars for our economy. So that is the first initiative that His Excellency the President, Dr. E.D Mnangagwa, has achieved. The second aspect is the land tenure system, which is going to unlock billions of dollars for the financial and agricultural sector. This is a direct economic empowerment initiative to war veterans, to the youth, to women, and to many other farmers across all the 10 provinces, which will also align in terms of the food security modality that is being championed by His Excellency the President, Dr. ED Mnangagwa.”
Under the tourism cluster, government is looking to harness increasing tourism figures under the Tourism Recovery Plan.
“A total rebound in terms of the contribution by the tourism sector in that the utilisation of funds, the disposition in terms of each and every tourist that comes to our country. There’s been a tremendous and positive growth in that for last year, it was an average of US$1 500 per person, per visit. And now it’s grown to an average of $2,000 per person, per visit. And perhaps in terms of duration, an increase in the number of days from an average of three days to five days per visit. This is a total positive rebound in terms of the tourism industry. The construction of a number of new hotels and lodges in all the tourism centres in our country,” he said.
Within the broadcasting landscape, the Information minister said the roll out of the second phase of the Zimbabwe Digital Broadcast Migration Programme will ensure growth of the sector and creation of a knowledgeable society.
“The Zim Digital programme had started in earnest, but the re-launch will take place in 2025, which will see us in a position to be able to implement the Digital Infrastructure Master Plan, which will achieve media sovereignty for us as a country, but also in particular the amendments to the broadcasting services, amendments that are going through parliamentary processes. They also speak to heritage-based broadcasting, in that all the 16 recognised languages in terms of the constitution of Zimbabwe will have support in terms of content and production, because the major focus is to ensure that we leave no one and no place behind.
“So, the Zim Digital project has received funding in this last quarter of 2024 and the implementation modalities are taking place in order to ensure that we have all the transmitters and equipment in place, and the major priority is to start with the border areas for us to be able to achieve technological and media sovereignty for our people, thereby ensuring that we leave no one and no place behind as we journey towards an upper-middle-income society, for an informed knowledgeable society is very key to nation building.”
2025 will conclude the first phase of the National Development Strategy, an economic blueprint that seeks to achieve an upper middle-income society by 2030 through paying particular focus to promoting sustainable economic growth, social protection, economic diplomacy, housing delivery and good governance.
