PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has left Harare for Antananarivo, Madagascar for the 45th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government.

The 45th summit is expected to see President Mnangagwa handing over chairmanship of the regional bloc to his Madagascar counterpart President Andry Rajoelina after a successful term of promoting regional integration, peace and security.

The country has already handed over chairmanship to the standing committee of Senior officials and the Council of Ministers.

Speaking from Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport; Deputy Chief Secretary Presidential Communications, Mr George Charamba said as Zimbabwe hands over chairmanship to Madagascar many lessons have been drawn for SADC, from ensuring peace is realised in DRC, to success in infrastructure development.

“It has been a very onerous, yet exciting journey, onerous in the sense that, this has been an important assignment which has been thrust upon Zimbabwe by the region and thrust upon the President in his personal capacity as the leader of our country, which is why, in fact, he was unanimously chosen as the chairman. It was an opportunity for us to take the agenda of the region forward in a very empathic and definitive way, and I think we saw quite some landmark steps which Zimbabwe, as a chairman, registered in terms of the development trajectory of the sub-region. There was an escalation of conflict in the eastern part of the DRC, and an escalation that drew in even countries that lay outside the SADC region, which is why through his good guidance and good leadership, you find that the Chairman was able to cause a joint summit of two sub-regional bodies of the African Union, SADC and EAC,” he stated

“The second aspect, which would really again show foresighted leadership on the part of Zimbabwe, had to do with realising the importance of beneficiating our own resources in the region through industrialisation. For Zimbabwe, this was no novelty, it was no news. We were doing it already, but now, it has become a sub-regional agenda.”

He added that the need for internal solutions to challenges drawn from the nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo mantra that is driving the development aspirations of the country and region.

“The third and perhaps last aspect I can raise relates to giving SADC a new philosophy, but a philosophy that derives from Zimbabwe’s own national philosophy. When you look at that mantra which our President developed against the background of our own experience in the liberation war, you realise that it is a direct development from none but ourselves. A liberation ethos transforms itself into post-colonial politics, but this time, into the economic sector,” he said.

“If you consider SADC as a child of the front-line states, it was only proper and fitting that this whole philosophy be spread to cover the whole sub-region. That was a key philosophical grounding which we gave to SADC. We are also aware that for trade and development to take place in a sub-regional context, you need infrastructure. Zimbabwe is a leader in terms of laying the infrastructure, not just for internal cohesion and internal economic activity, but also for sub-regional integration.”

From the SADC Summit President Mnangagwa will lead the Zimbabwe delegation to the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) which will be held in Yokohama, Japan.

According to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Professor Mthuli Ncube, TICAD 9 presents impetus on the envisioned National Development Strategy 2.

“Zimbabwe is expected to contribute immensely to the discussions. TICAD is also helping us shape our own future and development thinking. Right now, we are busy preparing NDS2, with its 10 key pillars. When you look at the various pillars, whether they are pertaining to the youth, women’s issues, supporting SMEs or infrastructure development, energy security, food security, these are areas that dovetail with past discussions from the TICAD platform. It also helps us clarify, so as we contribute and listen to others, we are sharpening our own development strategy as we drive towards Vision 2030.”

Zimbabwe continues to use various international fora to spread its message of peace and development which are key to the socio-economic growth of any nation.

President Mnangagwa was seen off at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice President General (Rtd) Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Service Chiefs and Senior Government Officials.