President Mnangagwa will this week provide an assessment of the achievements made in 2022 to celebrate the country’s progress and reflect on the lessons learnt in the ongoing developmental path being spearheaded by the Second Republic.
Writing on his Twitter account yesterday, President Mnangagwa said he will touch on the successes of last year and celebrate the ground-breaking progress made in major developmental projects which his Government has embarked on since assuming office.
“I will be taking a look back at the successes of 2022 this week in order to celebrate how far Zimbabwe has come and learn from our great journey. #Zimbabwe #Growth,” President Mnangagwa said.
“I want to recognise the successes of the last year, beginning with the ground-breaking progress we have made at the Gwayi-Shangani Dam. We are making the lives of Zimbabweans better each and every day.”
The impounding of Lake Gwayi-Shangani and pumping of water from the dam to Bulawayo via a 245km pipeline is part of the Second Republic’s measures to complete the century old National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project as the permanent solution to Bulawayo’s water crisis.
Groundwork is underway towards laying of the 245km pipeline linking Lake Gwayi-Shangani and Bulawayo. So far about 104km have been cleared to pave way for the digging of trenches.
The construction of Lake Gwayi-Shangani is now 70 percent complete with the project expected to be concluded in the middle of this year after the dam and associated pipeline were allocated $8 billion in the 2023 National Budget to boost both the dam construction and pipeline works.
Since coming into office late in 2017, President Mnangagwa has led from the front to ensure that the Zanu PF-led Government delivers on its election promises.
Guided by the National Development Strategy 1, which builds momentum towards the attainment of an upper middle-income economy by 2030, the Second Republic has championed an inclusive developmental agenda, which has seen numerous transformative projects being rolled out across the country.
These are largely pronounced in major infrastructure developments cutting across sectors, enhanced ease of doing business through fiscal and monetary reforms, technology and innovation absorption, agriculture revolution, skills development and improved public service delivery, among others.
Last year saw Government up the ante in its development agenda aimed at improving people’s lives especially through roads and dam construction, provision of safe potable water through borehole drilling, construction of health clinics and centres among others.
President Mnangagwa was also able to show the growing uptake of his investor-friendly policies as he was invited to preside over ground-breaking ceremonies in the mining sector especially for lithium, platinum, gold, coal and iron and steel.
Some of these projects include the Sabi Star lithium mine in Buhera, the Bikita Minerals expansion and the Manhize multi-billion-dollar iron and steel project.
Lithium and iron and steel projects are expected to rake in US$5,5 billion this year with the country on course to achieve and surpass its target of a US$12 billion a year mining industry by the end of the year.
The completion of the new Number 7 and 8 units at Hwange Thermal Power Station will improve the country’s electricity supply.
Four hundred kilometres of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway were also completed last year.
In agriculture, the country also achieved a first in history by producing a self-sufficient wheat harvest of over 380 000 tonnes while over 2,5 million households benefited from the Pfumvudza/Intwasa inputs programme.
Through devolution funds, several clinics and schools were also constructed especially in rural areas to fulfil the President’s thrust of leaving no one and no community behind.