via Danish Trade minister heads for Zimbabwe October 30, 2014
DANISH Minister of Trade and Development Mogens Jensen will visit the country for high-level meetings next week as the Nordic country moves to normalise relations with Zimbabwe.
The meetings run from November 5 to 7. He becomes the first senior politician from a Western nation to visit Zimbabwe since the 2013 harmonised elections.
The visit comes hard on the heels of a United Kingdom business delegation that is in the country on a three-day working visit to scout for opportunities. The UK delegation arrived in the country on Tuesday.
Jensen’s visit also comes at a time when the European Union is set to make a policy announcement on the restrictions that were placed on Zimbabwe over the past decade.
He will meet senior government officials, civil society and business leaders in order to assess the needs and progress made on Danida-funded programmes in Zimbabwe.
He will also visit Danish-funded activities and projects in the agriculture and judicial sector as well as explore possible commercial opportunities between Zimbabwe and Denmark, the Royal Danish Embassy in Zimbabwe said yesterday.
Jensen will be accompanied by members of the Danida External Grant Committee, which plays a key role in the allocation of funds in Danish development programmes globally.
The delegation will meet various programmes implementing partners to assess how Danish funding materialises on the ground.
Denmark is one of Zimbabwe’s biggest bilateral development partners. With an overall budget of $95 million, the Denmark-Zimbabwe Development Partnership Programme (2013 to 2015) aims to build democratic institutions and promote universal human rights.
Running under the theme A Partnership for Democracy and Development, the programme’s needs-based interventions are focused on supporting inclusive economic growth through promoting gender equality, eliminating of gender-based violence, facilitating access to justice for all, private sector development through agriculture, policy development and infrastructure rehabilitation.
In June, Denmark availed $20 million to fund water, sanitation and power projects through the Zimbabwe Multi-donor Trust Fund, becoming the largest contributor to the fund which is administered by African Development Bank on behalf of Denmark, Australia, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and United Kingdom.
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said while government appreciated the boost, the move signified the restoration of relations.
“For me, what is significant is not the $20 million which is most welcome, but that Denmark and Zimbabwe have found each other to restore our political and economic relations prior to the land reform programme. That, to me, is the most significant event today,” Chinamasa said.
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