Zim seeks closer ties with Ethiopia, Benin
ZIMBABWE is eager to collaborate economically with Ethiopia and Benin, including in mining and agriculture, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava has said.
Speaking in an interview after meeting Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie and Benin Foreign Affairs Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari on the sidelines of the 44th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he said:
“We revisited possibilities of revitalising our joint cooperation and in that regard, we want to revisit what we call the Joint Permanent Commission.
“This will (help) identify the various areas of cooperation in agriculture, mining, tourism and in commerce and industry. We are very confident that we can learn from each other, and we were both boasting that Zimbabwe and Ethiopia are the only two countries on the African continent at the moment which are wheat secure because we produce enough wheat for our people.”
Ambassador Shava said they also discussed the initiatives that Ethiopia was taking to get access to the Red Sea.
“We have understood their issues and we have given them our experiences because on our part, we too relate to Namibia, to South Africa and to Mozambique in order to get to the sea and we have a platform on which we discuss how to do so in the most amicable way,” he said.
“And then domestically, Zimbabwe wants to construct a chancery 43 years after independence in this political capital of Africa.”
Ambassador Selassie said they discussed ways of deepening the long standing relations between Addis Ababa and Harare.
“We have discussed today (yesterday) on how to give more energy, more vitality and more strength to the historic and an outstanding relationship between Ethiopia and Zimbabwe,” he said.
“It is one of the countries that understand the historic significance of Ethiopia, the contribution that we have done during the liberation period from the 1950s. So, our current relationship is pretty much informed by the past cooperation that we have had between our two countries in the AU platform and as well as in other international platforms.
“I am happy to draw a lesson, particularly on issues of request for access. Zimbabwe has ended in a very astute way, able to work closely with neighbouring countries; Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. That is indeed a significant lesson that we are going to draw a lesson from and share experiences.”
The Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa has directed all its representatives, including ambassadors, to drive the economic diplomacy agenda.
Through the engagement and re-engagement drive under the mantra of friend to all and enemy to none, Zimbabwe is keen to mend relations with all countries that had shut the door on it following the implementation of the hugely successful Land Reform Programme.
Land redistribution has seen more productive land in the hands of black people who have increased production across critical crops such as tobacco, wheat, cotton and maize, earning the country more foreign currency.
Turning to cooperation with Benin, Ambassador Shava said: “We want to start a Joint Permanent Commission; we want to explore areas of common interest. We want to ensure that our multilateral positions are collaborated and Benin is aspiring to be a non-permanent member of the Security Council come 2026-2027, and Zimbabwe wants to do the same come 2027-2028.
“We have agreed to mutually support each other and go into the Security Council that way. So those are some of the collaborations that we have touched on.”
Minister Bakari of Benin said his country and Zimbabwe shared a common value of real integration within the AU.
Zimbabwe, under President Mnangagwa’s leadership is “doing a great job”, he said.
“It was a big occasion for me as a friendhood country to commend them on the work they are doing and to see how we can strengthen the partnership between our two countries in order to help our populations improve the way of their life,” he said.
“So, we had a very productive discussion and I think in the future, we will be working together in order to improve the cooperation between Benin and Zimbabwe.” Minister Bakari said there were several areas in which the two countries can collaborate such as mining and education, adding that they already “share a lot of things together”.
“We have the same commitment for what we used to call multilateral world, multipolar world. We are part of the United Nations, African Union, G-77 plus China. So, definitely, we are supporting each other on all those political areas,” he said.
“But more practically, when it comes to real life, we are agriculture countries, so we have a lot of things to share on this side, on the mining side, on education and many other areas. So we really want to transform all of this.
“We decided that in the coming weeks, our teams will work together in order to set up a Joint Permanent Commission. So we will be discussing all those potentials. Zimbabwe can be the entry point for Benin into the entire SADC community, and Benin can be the entry point for Zimbabwe into West Africa also.”