Debra Matabvu
THE Government has begun working on a road map to operationalise eight major agreements covering sectors that include tourism, health, manufacturing and agriculture, which were signed between Zimbabwe and Belarus last week, it has been learnt.
The deals, hailed as a significant milestone in strengthening bilateral cooperation, were signed during President Mnangagwa’s four-day State visit to Belarus, where he held high-level talks with his counterpart, President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
During the historic visit, the two countries formalised cooperation in agriculture, mining, tourism, health, waste management, water purification and manufacturing.
Belarus has emerged as one of Zimbabwe’s key development partners, especially in agriculture and mining.
Since 2019, the country has received over 2 000 high-tech tractors, 80 combine harvesters and other farming machinery under the Belarus Farm Mechanisation Facility. This support has significantly boosted agricultural productivity, with the country recently acquiring an additional 800 units of farm equipment to be delivered this year.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira told The Sunday Mail that implementation of the recently signed agreements has already commenced in the health and tourism sectors.
He said the agreements are expected to bring tangible benefits to Zimbabweans, just as previous collaborations, particularly in agriculture, have already transformed lives.
“The country is already benefitting from the agriculture mechanisation programme being implemented through the leadership of His Excellency, President Mnangagwa, and his Belarusian counterpart,” said Prof Murwira.
“The sector has grown threefold due to the mechanisation programme, with equipment sourced from Belarus, and this has changed lives of the people of Zimbabwe and enhanced economic growth. Recently, President Mnangagwa launched AI-powered silos, a testament of the agriculture sector’s growth and transformation. And this has been due to the transformation happening in the sector, a sector that has been receiving support from Belarus.
“We are, therefore, confident that once implemented, the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed this week (last week) will yield significant results.”
Prof Murwira said some aspects of the new MoUs, including the upgrading of hospitals, with particular focus on Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, and the acquisition of pharmaceutical supplies, will begin to be rolled out immediately. However, the broader implementation road map spans 2026 to 2030.
“We signed an implementation road map, which was signed by the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs and myself, and the road map is from 2026 to 2030,” added Prof Murwira.
“However, areas such as hospital infrastructure development and upgrading will begin immediately because the work has already started.”
Speaking to the media during the visit, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere outlined the significance of the MoU on information and press cooperation.
He said the agreement will support Zimbabwe’s ongoing digitalisation efforts and the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.
“And at the same time, the agreement also covers areas including Transmedia, the transmission of the signal from analogue to digital,” said Dr Muswere.
“So, these are some of the issues that we discussed and agreed on.
“We have fixed a two-year period as part of the ZimDigital Phase 2 Project, and we are very confident that this agreement will enhance our capacity as we seek to ensure that we cover the whole country in terms of signal distribution.”
Minister Muswere added that the MoU also provides for human capital development through media exchange programmes.
Both Zimbabwe and Belarus, he said, share similar challenges, including sanctions and negative global media narratives.
“We have the same circumstances,” said Dr Muswere.
“Both countries have been sanctioned.
“Both countries have been affected by social media imperialism, which affects the sovereignty of nations in terms of data and digital sovereignty in the context of Zimbabwe as a country.
“So, all of this is well catered for in terms of the new agreement, which is going to enhance the architecture in terms of the media and broadcasting sector in Zimbabwe.”
Speaking during a tour of a local fabric manufacturing company in Belarus, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe stands to benefit from Belarus’ advanced textile industry.
“The change is actually being done in this factory, which is 100 percent owned by the government . . . and we have seen that all the materials, whether it is wool, whether it is linen, it is all being done here,” she said.
“Of course, they do not have as good cotton quality as we have, and this is the opportunity which we are looking at.
“We want to do something like this in our country so that we cannot continue to export our cotton as raw material.
“When you actually see the value chain here, from the product, the material, all the way to the garment, it is being done in this factory.”
Minister Mutsvangwa added that Zimbabwe, which produces high-quality cotton, must shift from exporting raw materials to producing finished products locally.
“We are also impressed by the state-of-the-art equipment which is doing all this, making the product quality very good.
“We look forward to a situation where we see our own SMEs growing and we hope to bring quite a number of SMEs to this country for a look and learn.”
The Government’s renewed focus on industrialisation, health, agriculture and digitalisation aligns with Vision 2030, President Mnangagwa’s blueprint for transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy.
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