BY TERRY MADYAUTA

FC PLATINUM coach Pieter de Jongh (pictured) has heaped praise on his predecessor Norman Mapeza who he said created a mean machine which will take years for local rivals to catch up with.

Mapeza, who is now coaching Chippa United in the South African league, won back to back league championships with the Zvishavane club in 2017 and 2018 seasons, before leaving in the middle of last season.

FC Platinum still went on to win the league title last year under assistant coach Lizwe Sweswe, but much of the credit for their triumph went to Mapeza.

Under the former Warriors coach, FC Platinum played a distinctive fast pace flowing brand of football.
De Jongh, who joined from Highlanders, is pleased with the team that he has inherited, and believes he can make it even stronger.

“There is discipline here,” the Dutchman said. “There is professionalism and co-operation from the players. I came here to win, and bring more glory to the squad. It’s a big task but I am sure it will be made easy because everyone at the team is used to winning and I think everyone will co-operate well in all our assignments.
“The previous coach did a great job. He left a good cultured team. He is a great man even in Zimbabwean history books and winning two titles in a row,” he said.
For all of Mapeza’s prowess on the domestic scene, he found the going tough in the Caf Champions League where he failed to guide FC Platinum beyond the group stages.

But the Dutchman has promised FC Platinum glory on the continent.

His first assignment in charge of the team in the African Safari was a commendable 1-1 draw against Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the Caf Champions League Group B match a fortnight ago.

FC Platinum host Al Hilal Omdurman of Sudan at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo tomorrow, hoping to salvage some pride. They will complete their group campaign with a trip to Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia next month.
The Zimbabwean champions have one point from their four group matches, and areup for contention for a place in the knock-out stage.

The top two teams from the group advance to the next stage.

AIR Zimbabwe recently took delivery of a pre-owned Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, and as the goings-on at Air Zimbabwe so often do, this event sparked mixed reactions, especially considering the manner in which the two planes were acquired.

At the heart of such polarising debates, inevitably, is the “small” matter of the profitability of Air Zimbabwe, and its cost to public taxpayers.

The ferocious debate raging in South Africa, with regard to continual government bailouts to the perennially loss-making South African Airways, which is threatening both South Africa’s fiscal health and its international credit ratings, will obviously not have been lost on Zimbabweans, in this context.

For years now, the unbridled descent of Air Zimbabwe has shown no immediate signs of abating. Strikes, allegations and counter allegations of mismanagement have hemmed-in the airline, choking the very life of Zimbabwe’s flag carrier in the skies.

And of course, the story of Air Zimbabwe, like most of the country’s State-owned enterprises would not be complete without mention of the “illegal sanctions,” and their effects on the country.

“Blame it on the sanctions” – the default response for everything that is wrong in Zimbabwe.

Said Acting President Constantino Chiwenga while receiving the plane: “As you may recall, State enterprises and parastatals used to contribute around 40% of our country’s gross domestic product.

Unfortunately, most, if not all, of these public entities have suffered from a host of challenges, including the economic decline caused by illegal sanctions imposed on us by the determined and unashamed perpetrators of underdevelopment in third world countries.”

Go figure!

Why do African airlines fail?

Perhaps more importantly, why has Air Zimbabwe astoundingly failed so much over the years? Mismanagement and corruption might be the most logical responses, right? Not so! While mismanagement and corruption (and these have been widely documented), have a part to play, they do not paint the full picture.

To understand why African airlines in general, and Air Zimbabwe in particular fail, it may be worthwhile to look at one of the most successful airlines in the world, and what makes it stand out from the rest. This brings us to Emirates Airlines.

The Emirates miracle story

Since 1985, this government-owned airline has grown from a two-plane operation at a desert airstrip into the world’s largest long haul carrier. Consider this; nine Emirates A380s land in London every day, five in Bangkok and four at JFK International Airport in America.

Johannesburg gets four daily Boeing 777s, Cape Town three, and Durban one. That is not all; Emirates also has a plane that carries a record 615 passengers on a non-stop 14 200km route from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand.

And this success from this relatively young aviation ‘wunderkind’ has been down to mostly luck and protectionism.

From a fuel and flight-time perspective, the Persian Gulf is the most geographically efficient place on the planet to run an airline from, it connects Europe with Southeast Asia and Australia, and the US with India.

Furthermore, strikes and protests at the airline are not a cause for concern, as unions are banned in that country.

Emirates does not have to worry about the taxman, as corporate and income taxes are nil. Dubai International Airport runs at full speed 24 hours a day, allowing Emirates to optimise connection times for its vast route network.

This is unlike say, Heathrow Airport, where the rights of the nearby public to sleep without noise from overhead jets means the airport closes after a certain hour. All these factors coalesce to make Emirates the success it is today.

Middle Eastern hubs: A changing aviation model

Regardless of how efficiently you run an audio cassette rental business, it just will not work in today’s world of digital music streaming platforms. This is more or less the scenario that Air Zimbabwe and most airlines not just in Africa, but the world, over face.

The modern aviation business model has drastically changed from just selling tickets from point to point, and flying aeroplanes, to a model built on creating regional hubs and growing non-airline ancillary revenues like selling travel and holiday packages locally and internationally, airplane catering services and cabin crew training services, for instance.

Why would any rational human being, for example, come down to Harare, which is near the southern tip of Africa, to then fly anywhere else in the world? In today’s market, it is very difficult to compete with airlines such as Qatar, Etihad and Emirates, collectively known as the Middle Eastern-3 (ME3) because of their geographical location and their traffic connection hubs.

Put simply, a locally operated airline, outside the longitude such as the one the (ME3) find themselves in, will just not have any economies of scale, to compete globally. That is just the permanent state of play. ME3 1 – Rest of World 0!

Regional routes to the rescue?

What about regional routes, one might ask. In Africa’s case, the existential reality is that regional routes are just not lucrative enough for airlines. Africa as a whole only has about 2% of global passenger traffic, according to the International Air Traffic Association (IATA).

Even on the cargo front, Africa still fares dismally. IATA estimates that air cargo represents more than 35% of global trade by value, yet Africa only captures 1,9% of air freight market.

A poisonous mix of protectionism, high taxes, and restrictive regulations by African governments ensure that the growth of the aviation industry in Africa remains stymied. Travelling around the continent of Africa is indeed a test of one’s nerves, not least because of the cost. More importantly, however, some analysts contend that it would take at least 20-30 years for the middle class in Africa to grow to the size that wold support extensive aviation in Africa.

There is just not enough wallet share to capture on the continent. Ethiopian Airlines, commonly touted as the success story of Africa’s aviation industry, has done so by successfully connecting mostly international traffic through its hub in Addis Ababa, and not by selling tickets within Africa.

The missing domestic market

The domestic market will obviously not require the wide-bodied long haul planes, such as the ones recently acquired by Air Zimbabwe. And bearing in mind the muted domestic demand for air travel, one might be hard pressed to see just how Air Zimbabwe might turn the corner, back into the black.

Then there are basic things like the right skill sets, and the right IT systems that have to be in place as a precondition for any modicum of success in this industry. Unfortunately, these are things that Air Zimbabwe currently does not seem to have a firm grip over.

In Air Zimbabwe’s case, one also has the rather arduous task of factoring in the occasional misappropriation of funds, underhand dealings, and a dose incompetence all into the forces that will conspire against the success of Air Zimbabwe.

In sum, Air Zimbabwe as a business does not have a compelling case for economic survival, and is irrelevant in today’s world. No taxpayer money should be wasted propping up this entity.

Perry Munzwembiri writes on his blog, Carte Blanche with Perry

POPULAR actor and comedian Lazarus “Gringo” Boora on Wednesday said he had resumed light acting for social media skits while on his way to full recovery after undergoing surgery in October last year.

BY LIFE & STYLE REPORTER

Gringo made the remarks after receiving some groceries and assortment of goods valued at $7 000 at his rural homestead in Rukweza, Nyazura. The goods were sourced by the government and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ).

“I am recuperating quite well. In December, I had time to do a few episodes for some social media shows and I hope to be back soon to conclude some projects that I was working on,” he said.

The veteran actor, who is currently recuperating at his rural home, thanked the government for the donation saying it was a heart-warming gesture.

“To me, this is more than just assistance. It is recognition of my talent by the people of Zimbabwe. Many artists are acknowledged when they die, but for me, it’s an honour to be recognised when I am still alive,” he said.

NACZ deputy director Josia Kusena said the (Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation) ministry and the council had seen it fit to offer Gringo assistance and ease the burden of taking care of his family while he was on the road to recovery. Kusena said the token of love came through a partnership of Youth minister Kirsty Coventry, her deputy Tinoda Machakaire and the ministry’s permanent secretary Thokozile Chitepo as well as NACZ director Nicholas Moyo and the people of Zimbabwe.

“We are with you during this time and we wish you a speedy recovery and return to full health,” he said.

A father of seven, Gringo rose to fame in 1997 after featuring in a drama series of the same title Gringo that was screened on national television ZBCTV before he went on to feature in other spin-offs of the show like Gringo Ndiani, Gringo Mari Iripi, Gringo Troublemaker and he recently starred as Gibbo in the new ZTV series Village Secrets.

Anglo-American-owned platinum mine, Unki Platinum, recorded a 4% increase in platinum production to 89 400 ounces last year.

BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

This improvement was from 85 900 ounces mined in the comparative 2018 period.

The improvement comes despite mines in Zimbabwe not receiving uninterrupted power supply as agreed to in signed agreements with government. As a result, these firms have had to deal with between 10 to 18 hours of power blackouts daily.

“Refined platinum production decreased by 18% to 629 700 ounces and refined palladium production decreased by 20% to 396 600 ounces,” Anglo American said in a statement released yesterday regarding its performance for the period under review.

“Excluding the impact of the tolled volumes that were previously purchased as concentrate, refined platinum production was flat and palladium decreased by 6% as improved operational performance at the processing facilities was offset by the impact of Eskom power outages. These power outages in Q4 resulted in an inventory build-up of circa 45 000 platinum ounces and circa 27 000 palladium ounces.”

The miner added that platinum sales volumes decreased 14% to 668 300 ounces and palladium sales volumes decreased 4% to 435 800 ounces due to lower refined production in the period.

“The full year price per platinum ounce for the basket of metals sold increased by 27% to $2 819/ounce compared to 2018 due to 48% and 73% price increases in palladium and rhodium, respectively,” Anglo American added.

But, on an annual basis, platinum production only improved to 2 051 ounces last year from a 2018 comparative of 2 021 ounces.

Regarding its overall performance, Anglo- America chief executive Mark Cutifani said the company delivered on its full year production targets across the business.

“Production is up 4% for the quarter led by the continued successful ramp-up at Minas-Rio in Brazil. Increased production at Metallurgical Coal in Australia was offset by the drought in Chile impacting water availability at Los Bronces…” Cutifani said.

“…as well as the anticipated lower production from De Beers as Venetia transitions to underground in South Africa and Victor reached the end of its mine life in Canada. As planned, we received the operating licence for the tailings dam raise at Minas-Rio before the end of 2019.”

However, the company recorded a drop of 5% in copper production in the period under review to 638 000 karats from a 2018 comparative of 668 300 largely due to a slump at its Los Bronces mine.

IT is undeniable that Africa’s young people are not simply a demographic wave but an entire ocean. They are, to quote Dr Wangui Kimari, “the demographic, creative, labour and political majority”.

Africa is, by far, the youngest continent on the globe and is set to remain so for the next 30 years. The average median age on the continent is estimated to be 19,7 years, in contrast to median ages of 30,6 in Asia and 41,7 in Europe.

Given the complexities and challenges the continent faces, there is need to harness ideas from across the population divide — men, women and youth — to propel Africa forward. While inclusion and diversity policies have largely focused on gender, there have not been similar concerted efforts focused on the youth.

Leadership on the continent must strive to become increasingly more youth-led. Only about 3% of the continent’s population are over the age of 65, yet the average age of African leaders is 77. This puts the average age gap between citizens and their leaders on the continent at about 48 years.

What this represents is a severe distortion of representation and leadership. Despite what many have referred to as a “demographic dividend”, young Africans continue to be marginalised and evidence suggests that this demographic dividend is not being harnessed.

Business as usual isn’t working

Therefore, it cannot be business as usual. The nature of the challenges facing Africa requires a new kind of responsiveness. The demand for new thinking and innovative solutions has seldom been greater and these solutions are created at the nexus of experience and new thinking which will be enabled by intergenerational efforts.

But those intergenerational dynamics can be challenging. Reflecting on his own experience, David Sengeh, chief innovation officer at the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation of Sierra Leone, said: “What was important was for me to learn how to engage with the age mates of my father and uncles – the societal and cultural dynamics can be very difficult to navigate. What helps with Youth leadership, the intergenerational dynamics are the technical contributions you make which make your presence invaluable at the table.”

Theory into practice

The Africa Youth Charter, adopted in 2006 by African Union (AU) member States, is a political and legal framework which was intended to enshrine the rights, duties and freedoms of African youth. Specifically, the Charter seeks to ensure the constructive involvement of youth in the development agenda of Africa and their effective participation in decision-making processes.

Despite it being signed, ratified and deposited by the large majority of AU member States, its operationalisation has been patchy and extremely slow. There has been a lack of earnest commitment to it and uptake by AU member States. As we enter 2020, young Africans remain conspicuous by their absence at decision-making tables.
This situation is untenable for several reasons. Firstly, there is a lack of representation as Africa’s key institutions continue to be governed by leaders who do not represent the largely young populations they serve. Generally, the governed want to see themselves reflected in the structures that govern them.
Secondly, current leaders are doing themselves a disservice by not drawing on the large talent pool to help them co-create solutions to Africa’s most pressing challenges. And in some cases, the solutions can only be generated by young people in this technological era.
“It is important for young people to occupy key leadership positions, but not just any young people. It is the young people who have the energy, focus, intensity, risk appetite, passion and single-minded drive to deliver well-articulated burning visions. The vision carriers who can efficiently and effectively translate visions into actions, implement and deliver on clear goals for a common objective. These are the young people who can build an impactful government, a thriving nation, and a prosperous continent.”
“We still face serious barriers to having more young people enter positions of power and/or influence. Even when they exist, the entry points and processes for advancement that will attract talented and committed young people are sometimes not well structured.”
And lastly, from a sustainability perspective, this lack of inclusivity is actually dangerous. Young Africans do not understand the systems and institutions that define their futures. How then will they inherit structures and processes that they do not understand?
How will they inherit Agenda 2063 and other defined priorities if they are so far removed from them?
Current leaders should actually have a vested interest in bringing in young leaders not least to ensure the sustainability of the good work they have started.
Cesar Augusto Mba Abogo, the 39-year-old Minister of Finance, Economy and Planning of Equatorial Guinea, says “working in government has given me the opportunity to learn more about the 51-year history of my country and witness, first-hand, the challenges our countries face daily.” No doubt he can only get that valuable experience, vital for continuity, from being within and at the centre of his country’s decision-making apparatus.
Young trailblazers
During our research, we identified a number of incredible young trailblazers who are already occupying senior government positions or positions of considerable influence. This opportunity, they acknowledge, comes from those in leadership positions, their “sponsors”, affording them the opportunity to serve.
Their achievements in office speak for themselves and suggest the promise and potential of more young people in governance. Dr Jumoke Oduwole is the special adviser to the President of Nigeria on ease of doing business.
Her work is clearly already bearing fruit, as in 2019, Nigeria moved up 15 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. Similarly, Clare Akamanzi in Rwanda is the chief executive officer of the Rwanda Development Board, which has been credited with making it easy to do business in Rwanda as well as ushering in record levels of foreign direct investment and is fast becoming a benchmark organisation across the continent.

It is during this process of working in government that a new crop of leaders begins to understand how policy is formulated and implemented. These young leaders play an important role in debunking ageist misconceptions and developing more innovative and dynamic institutions and policies. When called to serve, they heeded the charge to help build, plan and steer the Africa of their future.

From outliers to critical mass

But these young leaders remain lone voices in their various settings and what is actually required is a critical mass — a groundswell of new thinking and new ideas to propel the African continent forward.
To that end, a number of things need to happen. Firstly, getting young competent people into governance should not be dependent on mentors and sponsors — as important as they are. Getting to a critical mass will require deliberate actions which means structures and processes will need to be put into place.

On this, Nigeria offers some best practice for the rest of the continent regarding how to institutionalise such processes and reducing the barriers to entry. The positions of special adviser and special assistant to the minister were developed as pathways for getting technocrats into the government and can be readily replicated across the continent. Young competent Nigerians at national and state levels, such as Dr Jumoke Oduwole and Akintunde Oyebode, respectively, have been the beneficiaries of these roles. Like others, they are appointable, but not necessarily electable and have contributions to make in the policy realm without necessarily being politicians.
Secondly, as these young leaders enter the sphere of government and public office — often leaving a thriving opportunity in the private sector — they need to be adequately supported and trained. Formal inductions are needed so that they are not being set up to fail.

Thirdly, for those young people who do not necessarily want to be in public service, there are ways for African governments to leverage on their talents and know-how. Governments should set up sectoral advisory councils comprising the best young minds to make inputs into policy, leveraging on their experiences at the coalface. If policy is not evidence-based, relevant or appropriate, we are not moving forward as a continent.

Fourthly, African governments need to seriously consider youth quota systems in light of Africa’s peculiar demographic profile. While quotas are controversial, as they raise questions about meritocracy and whether the right people will be appointed, there are ways to alleviate those concerns. The African Leadership Institute is currently developing a platform of young, competent leaders which could be drawn on to help formalise the process of identifying young African experts.

Fifthly, the young leaders themselves need to self-mobilise and support each other by setting up a network of young leaders in governments across the continent to share experiences and learnings.

On this, David Sengeh says what has helped him has been the support from his peers, namely other young leaders in similar positions.

In closing, while the AU’s Youth Charter and the AU’s Agenda 2063 provide good policy frameworks, they, alone, are not sufficient. What is required above all is political will. It is up to each country’s leadership to demonstrate significant political will and open up spaces for young technocrats and leaders to move into positions of influence. It is, after all, a win-win. If young people can help governments deliver on their mandates to the people, everybody wins and the government looks good!

This article was co-produced by Dr Jacqueline Chimhanzi/Monique Atouguia and published in the current edition of the African Business as a special report to the ongoing 2020 World Economic Forum summit in Davos.

GOVERNMENT has dropped a bombshell on Harare City Council, directing it to dissolve all strategic business units it had formed, including City Parking and Harare Quarry, among others, claiming they were being used as conduits to syphon revenue from the local authority.

BY MOSES MATENGA

In a letter dated December 16, 2019 addressed to mayor Herbert Gomba, Local Government minister July Moyo said there was strong suspicion that some of the companies were being used to steal council resources.

“You are directed to make sure that companies formed as income-generating ventures, which previously had been sources for council revenue, are dissolved and the activities be carried out under the appropriate programmes,” he wrote.

“On that note, City Parking, without any investments, had not been bringing in any meaningful revenue to council and Sunshine Holdings seems to be a conduit to siphon out council resources. Furthermore, Harare Quarry (Pvt) Ltd demands payment upfront for material ordered by council, while it is being subsidised for making losses.”

Moyo said the measures would put council in good stead and achieve quick sustainable results.

He said city departments were operating in silos, with each department having its own support staff, a situation that has created semi-autonomous entities.

“This facilitates loss of organisational cohesion and creates a bloated support staff complement which weighs heavily on council resources. This administrative architecture results in the City of Harare failing to discharge its mandate efficiently,” Moyo said.

“You are, therefore, advised to revise the city’s organogram, as a matter of urgency assigning programme managers and sub-programme managers in line with the adopted programme-based approach. The programme managers and sub-programme managers should be held accountable for the operations of their areas of jurisdiction in all respect.”

Gomba said the local authority was working on a number of strategies to ensure the city achieved its set goals, for the good of the residents.

“We are in the process of moving Harare Water from the premises they were renting to accommodate them in our council properties, Cleveland and Rowan Martin. This will allow us to save a lot of money,” he said.

“We are also in the process of looking at the council organogram and see where responsibilities are overlapping.

For example, auditing, it can be done under purposes manager of council. The same with finance that can be done.

“We want to cut a lot of costs and that also includes introducing new soccer sponsors that are not City of Harare.
We are also engaging in strict measures to track council vehicles and also implement a measure that bars spouses of directors to use city vehicles and having fuel for their use. That is very unnecessary luxury.”

Higherlife Foundation has extended by an additional six months the free transport programme for nurses and doctors employed at public healthcare institutions in Zimbabwe.

The extended offer comes a day after the Foundation extended an offer to pay doctors in the public healthcare sector through a special medical fellowship established by Higherlife late last year, in order to enable doctors to go back to work following a long and debilitating strike that has paralysed the country’s public healthcare delivery system.

At the close of business yesterday (Thursday, January 23) the Foundation said close to a thousand doctors had signalled their intention to take up the offer by collecting the Fellowship forms. It said over 800 had completed and returned the forms to take up the offer, which is open until close of business tomorrow (Friday, January 24, 2020).

In December last year, a total of 362 mainly junior doctors took up the Fellowship offer from Higherlife Foundation and have already gone back to work.

In the statement yesterday, Higherlife Foundation said its focus remained on patient care. It said: “In line with our commitment to putting the patient first, we are pleased to announce that our free Vaya transport programme for nurses and doctors, which has been in place for the past 6 months, has been further extended and will run through to July 2020.

The Foundation said along with free transport, its affiliate businesses (in which the Masiyiwa family has interests) would “continuing to provide free water deliveries to all public hospitals and clinics in Harare”.

It said the Foundation would continue to support the country’s healthcare system and ensure “our public medical staff are well resourced to carry out their work”.

IF what I read online that Obert Gutu has resigned from the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T is true then this is a good step in the right direction.

By Kennedy Kaitano,Our Reader

This argument is based on contradictions that I have noticed between him and his colleagues, or former colleagues from the original MDC-T.

One of the contradictions has been around the desire to feed from the taxpayers’ sweat by some of the leaders in the MDC-T. While Gutu was at pains to express his thinking that he was not in the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) for tea and biscuits, the secretary-general of the MDC-T Nixon Nyikadzino, was busy preparing a budget of how much money Polad needed for operational purposes, usurping the responsibilities of constitutional entities such as Parliament of Zimbabwe, most likely with the backing of Khupe. Otherwise how else can the secretary-general go on to talk to the media about a request for the funding of Polad without Khupe’s knowledge? It is commendable Gutu has realised that some of his colleagues in the MDC-T are hopeless and utterly broke political waifs who are scrounging for a living in Polad.

The other difference between Gutu and others, especially Khupe, is that she appears gullible and too quick to ululate at misfiring leaders.

I have not come across a statement by Khupe to rebuke Mnangagwa for his deceitful actions. How can she rebuke him when she has already publicly supported him, and when she is expecting Mnangagwa to divert government resources to fund Polad?

I wish you good luck Gutu, whether you have jumped ship or still with the compromised political outfit led by Khupe.

Follow your heart my brother.

The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) has approved a US$685 000 grant to strengthen Zimbabwe’s capacity to manage disaster risk.

BY BUSINESS REPORTER

The grant was approved under the AfDB’s, African Development Fund (ADF) which is the concessionary lending arm of the African Development Bank Group.

“The Board of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Wednesday approved a $685,000 grant to strengthen Zimbabwe’s capacity to manage disaster risks, including droughts, floods and tropical cyclones, through the Bank’s Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) programme,” AfDB, in a statement yesterday said.

“The grant will cover training for various national agencies involved in disaster risk management and financing and contingency planning as part of the ADRiFi project, designed to enhance the response of Regional Member Countries to climate disasters and promote innovative disaster risk finance instruments, such as disaster risk insurance.”

ADF provides low income Regional Member Countries with concessional loans and grants, guarantees as well as technical assistance for studies and capacity building to support of projects and programs that spur poverty reduction and economic development.

As such, AfDB said the grant will also benefit populations at risk of exposure to extreme drought events, particularly smallholder farmers and vulnerable rural communities.

“The ADRiFi project complements other initiatives currently being implemented in the agriculture sector and the Bank’s post Idai rehabilitation and reconstruction project in Zimbabwe,” AfDB said.

“The country is also a beneficiary of a Euro 1.2 million grant from the Bank, allocated for training of some eight resource-rich African countries, to improve their mining revenues.”

AfDB also announced that in collaboration with the Bank, the African Risk Capacity, a specialized agency of the African Union, will provide in-kind contribution for trainings estimated at around US$320 000.

“The project will run for two years, starting from March 2020,” AfDB said.

The support from the AfDB comes as country experienced extreme weather events that gave Zimbabwe ones of its worst droughts on record in the 2018/19 agricultural season and a deadly category three storm.

AfDB Zimbabwe country manager, Damoni Kitabire said extreme weather events such as prolonged dry spells, droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones had affected agricultural production and disrupted livelihoods of rural Zimbabwe.

“Coupled with harsh economic challenges, these extreme weather events increase household vulnerability, food insecurity, chronic poverty and malnutrition across the country,” Kitabire told the ADF Board.

He said the project demonstrates the Bank’s continued support to the country, while the government is working to reform the economy and that the AfDB would leverage support from other partners to successfully implement the project.

“The drought, worsened by the unfavourable economic conditions in the country, is estimated to have exposed 5.5 million people in rural areas and about three million urban dwellers to extreme vulnerability and food insecurity in the first half of 2020,” AfDB said.