The Southern African Development Community has expressed strong admiration for Zimbabwe's impressive development trajectory, commending the country's progress despite enduring decades of crippling economic sanctions imposed by Western nations.
SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi, currently in Zimbabwe to oversee preparations for the upcoming bloc's August summit, met with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga on Tuesday. Magosi praised Zimbabwe's remarkable achievements, citing the construction of first-class infrastructure projects despite the challenges posed by US and EU sanctions.
"Zimbabwe has actually been doing very well despite having been under sanctions for quite some time," Magosi said following his meeting with Chiwenga.
The official added that "there is a silver lining to every problem. Zimbabwe seems to have utilised this time to actually create things, to innovate things and to focus on development, and the Government has done a very good job."
Magosi highlighted Zimbabwe's success as a model for other SADC member states.
"We want to use Zimbabwe as an example for the other countries, particularly during the summit, where we would like President Mnangagwa to share his experiences with his colleagues so they can take a leaf from him and go and do well in their respective countries," he stated.
The SADC official also acknowledged the impressive infrastructure development undertaken in Zimbabwe and expressed confidence in the country's ability to host a successful summit in August.
He noted that President Mnangagwa will be hosting a special event following the summit to showcase Zimbabwe's achievements to visiting heads of state.