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By Joyce Mukucha
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube has hailed the Indian government for being instrumental in facilitating several current and planned projects in Zimbabwe particularly in the energy sector as well as the support in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
Officiating the Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation celebrations last week, Minister Ncube said the projects which include the refurbishment of Hwange Recovery Plan and Life Expansion and renovation of Bulawayo Thermal Power Plant positively helped the nation and its development.
“I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support the Government of Zimbabwe has received from India estimated at over 500 million in the form of credits, grants, technical assistance and humanatarian support. The support went on to support different sectors of the economy such as energy, agriculture, water and sanitation, health, humanitarian and capital development programmes.
“We appreciate India’s support in extending a loan facility for the revamping of various energy projects. First of all is the upgrade of Hwange Thermal Power units 1-6 for US$3,10 million.
“Still at the energy sector, the following lines of credits has been extended by the export and import bank of India to support our energy sector here in Zimbabwe. It supported the renovation of Bulawayo Thermal Power Plant with the financial support to the tune of US$110 million which involves the upgrading of the station for it to install the capacity of 100 Mega Watts from the current average of 30 Mega Watts,” he said.
Minister Ncube also acknowledged the support from the government of India to the tune of US$48,1 million Deka Pumping Station and River Water Intake System Project updgrading which he said was critical in the execution of the US$1.1 billion Hwange Expansion Project.
Going forward, Mthuli said Zimbabwe will be sourcing again other resources for the energy projects and work with the Ministry of Energy to make sure that it targets those with the biggest impact on the country’s energy supply.
Regarding humanitarian assistance, Mthuli said the Government of India has played a crucial role in helping Zimbabwe on the fight against the global Covid-19 pandemic.
“I would like to acknowledge and appreciate the the humanitarian assistance extended by the Government of India starting with Covid-19 support. The Government of India has assisted Zimbabwe in the fight against Covid-19 particularly with the donation of 75 000 Covid-19 vaccine doses. The Government of India also donated medicines and ambulances and these ambulances are being distributed across the country in various provinces.”
Minister Ncube noted that in the City of Victoria Falls, the biggest tourism destination, government has over-performed and exceeded over a 100 percent, the herd immunity target.
He further stated that despite the negative health experience, the global Covid-19 pandemic has brought in the new normal which saw an increase in capacity utilisation for the country’s industry with importation being substituted by local production of Personal Protective Equipment.
“However, this new normal comes with its own challenges of fast tracking the digital economy which need to be done which requires investiments in terms of Information and Communication Technologies(ICT) equipment. So I plead to the Government of India to continue lending us necessary support to purchase that equipment.”
He said Zimbabwe was looking for India’s further support going forward in other areas especially in the ICT sector where there is comparative advantage globally indicating that Zimbabwe want to grow its digital economy which is a key pillar in the National Development 1 Strategy.
Regarding grants and technical assistance, Professor Mthuli said, “The Government of Zimbabwe has received grants and technical assistance from the government of India in the following areas: Small to Medium Enterprises(SMEs) with the Zim-Indo project which began in 2006. Seventeen common facility centres were established with equipment and machinery worth $US5 million received from India.”
Concerning innovation, Professor Mthuli said India extended support for development of incubation centres as he highlighted that government has received machinery worth $US1 million for the establishment of the incubation centre in Waterfalls Harare to train SMEs entrepreneurs on latest technology to improve their production and also benefitting some higher and tertiary education institutions.
“I’m aware that our Harare Institute of Technology has become involved in the activities of this centre in driving innovation but making sure that incubation services are provided ad the centre seeks to succeed.”
Zimbabwe, he said, also received support from the government of India in tourism and mining among other sectors.