ED off to Guinea
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa left the country early today for Guinea on a State visit that will see Zimbabwe and the West African country digesting ways of strengthening relations in all spheres.
The two-day visit is at the invitation of President Alpha Condé.
President Condé despatched his foreign minister Mr Mamadi Toure to Zimbabwe in May this year.
Mr Toure met President Mnangagwa and expressed his country’s interest in developing cooperation with Zimbabwe.
“We want to develop cooperation starting with a Joint Commission to explore areas of cooperation in areas of agriculture, energy, construction and so on.
“We want to explore areas where we can cooperate for the benefit of both countries.
“Ours is a very old relationship which dates to the time of the struggle for independence. Guinea was on the side of Zimbabwe and many other countries who were fighting for independence at the time. So we want to be reactive, give new impetus to this relationship that is political and also economical,” he told reporters soon after meeting President Mnangagwa.
President Mnangagwa has anchored his foreign policy on engagement and re-engagement with all countries as he seeks to beneficially position Zimbabwe on the global map after over two decades of isolation.
Since he became President, nearly a year ago, President Mnangagwa has visited a number of countries among them Botswana, China, Qatar, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa, where he sought to boost both political and economic relations.
He visited China in April this year and hammered out a number deals that include the refurbishment of Hwange Power Station Units 7 and 8 set to increase power generation by 600MW.
Harare and Beijing also signed MoUs on economic cooperation, skills development and education.
In December 2017, he visited South Africa and the two neighbours also looked at ways of enhancing ties.
President Mnangagwa visited Tanzania in June this year and met President Dr John Magufuli.
The two leaders discussed ways of further boosting ties between their countries.
He was in Zambia last month for a State visit where Harare and Lusaka upgraded ties.
The two countries have established the Zambia-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission expected to scale up trade, scientific and cultural cooperation.
He visited Botswana in February this year on a two-day State visit that saw relations between Harare and Gaborone, long strained during the era of the First Republic, mending.