West's 'Illegal Sanctions' Bolster Zimbabwean-Russian Cooperation, Minister Tells Sputnik

It’s high time for both Russia and Zimbabwe to benefit from bilateral relations and for Russian businessmen to invest in the African nation because the country has "what Russian investors are looking for," Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Publicity of Zimbabwe has told Sputnik Africa.

"And we feel this is the time for Russian business people to come and invest in Zimbabwe. This is the time for them to take advantage of that relationship which has been missed and harnessed over a number of years. So we expect a lot of cooperation, collaboration, because we do have what Russian investors are looking for," she stressed.

Both being under "illegal sanctions" imposed by the US, Zimbabwe and Russia have much in common, and "much room" for cooperation, the minister pointed out.

"And the truth of it is that Russia is under sanctions like Zimbabwe. The illegal sanctions which were imposed on Zimbabwe by the Americans, and Russia is equally under those sanctions," the information minister stated. "And there's so much room for us to work together because with or without sanctions, our people have to survive. Our companies have to survive, our economies have to grow."

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According to Mutsvangwa, the African continent is "one of the most attractive investment centers" due to its natural resources, young people, today's situation is "the biggest opportunity" for cooperation.

"Africa for Russia today is one of the most attractive investment centers because of the advantages of the fact that Africa has got some of the natural resources, the most of the natural resources, and also we have good advantage of the youth dividend. So that really gives us an opportunity to work whether it's in mining, whether it's in agriculture, whether it's even in human resources training," the minister noted.

Outlining the historical retrospective, the minister noted that the bilateral relations have always been positive, Russia supported Zimbabwe in its uneasy struggle for freedom.

"We have enjoyed very good relationships as a country from Zimbabwe with Russia, because that's historically from the time when the black people of my country were fighting for their independence," Mutsvangwa emphasized. "Zimbabwe was oppressed for a number of years, and we had to take up arms to fight the colonizers. And we are happy, as people from Zimbabwe, that Russia stood with us during that very, very difficult time."