An award for Zimbabwe – at last!

The award was announced at the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) transport and infrastructure summit, held last week at Midrand, outside Johannesburg. The prize is given to countries and organisations in recognition of their outstanding effort towards achieving the goals of the NEPAD and the African Union to accelerate economic co-operation and integration among African countries.

Zimbabwe was represented at the awards ceremony, held at the Gallagher Convention Centre, by Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the Minister of Regional Integration and International Cooperation, who received the award on behalf of the country.

Zimbabwe was rewarded for its sterling job of fostering regional trade co-operation and for creating transport, trade and regional co-operation at the border post with Zambia, said John Tambe, a spokesman for the organisers. Nepad seeks to improve trade within member countries and the role of this award is to encourage countries to do more in working towards achieving this goal and thus, Zimbabwe was an example of how this can be done, during the past year.

Tambe said that the development of Africa’s transport infrastructure networks and corridors has become crucial in driving regional integration and trade, especially when taking into account that economic groupings within Africa trade far less with one another than they do with their external partners mainly because of inherent deficits in transport and energy infrastructure.

(The) project excellence awards are more than a pat on the back for a job well done – they are solemn recognition of effort, commitment and innovation in an absolutely vital field of activity,” Tambe said. Chirundu, one of the busiest border posts in the region, was last December commissioned as a one-stop border post, in a bi-lateral project between Zimbabwe and Zambia, to ease the movement of the goods and human traffic between the two countries.