Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Editor
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to launch the Presidential Solar Programme aimed at the provision of solar power to 200 000 households.
The programme is expected to benefit villages across the country’s eight rural provinces.
This was revealed by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere during this Tuesday’s post cabinet media briefing.
“Following the approval of the Implementation Plan for the Presidential Solarisation Programme in December 2024, significant milestones have been made towards the provision of solar power to 200 000 households,” Dr Muswere said.
“Guidelines for the implementation of the programme have been established with stakeholder mapping and identification of beneficiaries in villages across the eight rural provinces already completed. Community mobilisation and awareness processes spearheaded by the Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution have also been completed.
“Graduates of the Youth Service in Zimbabwe, with assistance from experts from the Harare Institute of Technology and the Rural Electrification Agency, will install a total of 200 000 solar kits to the identified households.
“His Excellency President Mnangagwa will launch the Presidential Solarisation Programme to mark the official commencement of the first year of the Programme.”
National priorities for the National Development Strategy 2 were also discussed.
“Cabinet considered and approved the National Priorities for the National Development Strategy 2, running from January 2026 to December 2030 (NDS2), as presented by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. The National Development Strategy 1 has been running from 2021 and will come to an end in December 2025. As such, the National Development Strategy 2 will be the Second Republic’s second five-year Medium-Term Plan for attaining the country’s Vision 2030,” Dr Muswere said.
“The government has now adopted 10 National Priorities that will guide and underpin the formulation and implementation of the NDS 2 blueprint as follows:
1) Macro-Economic Stability and Financial Sector Deepening;
2) Inclusive Economic Growth and Structural Transformation;
3) Infrastructural Development and Housing;
4) Food Security, Climate Resilience and Environmental Protection;
5) Technology, Innovation and Human Capital Development;
6) Job Creation, Youth Development, Creative Industry and Culture;
7) Social Development and Social Protection;
8) Regional Development and Inclusivity through Devolution and Decentralization;
9) Image Building, International Diplomacy and Trade; and
10) Good Governance, Institution Building, and Security.
“The streamlined National Priorities are geared to optimise resource allocation and strengthen sectoral coordination for effective and impactful delivery of services to the citizenry.
“A broad-based consultative process will buttress Thematic Working Group re-alignment across the different socio-economic sectors, leading to the actual drafting and launch of the NDS2 by October 2025,” he said.
Relating to NDS 2, the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, outlined strides that have been recorded within NDS1 and lessons learnt.
“I think a very important lesson we have learned from NDS 1 which we will carry over into NDS 2 is that, we need a whole of government approach in attacking some of these pillars and strategies within NDS 2, which we tried to do under NDS 1, but this has to continue.
“We have to be even better at it and make sure that we do away with the silos that may creep in from time to time to make sure that we can all work together to deliver on the goal of achieving an upper middle income society by year 2030,” Minster Ncube said.
Cabinet also discussed the food security outlook for the 2024/2025 summer cropping season.
“The current grain stock at the Grain Marketing Board is enough to meet the needs of rural communities until the next harvest, expected from April 2025.
“Grain stocks are currently at 129 149 metric tonnes. The government continues to monitor volumes of imports, stocks at millers, import prices, and import sources in order to eliminate arbitrage opportunities,” Dr Muswere said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has set up 214 surveillance traps for the African Armyworm whose outbreak has been described as the worst in 20 years.
