Beef carcasses pictured in the cold storage chamber at Witvlei Meat abattoir. Photo: Nampa.
This was said by Zimbabwe ambassador to Namibia Rofina Chikava, in an interview with Nampa during her visit to the Kavango East region over the weekend. The ambassador was accompanied by Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West provincial affairs state minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka.
Chikava said Namibia and Zimbabwe signed seven memoranda of understanding (MoUs) when president Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Namibian in July this year. Part of these MoUs was for Zimbabwe to buy beef from Namibia while Namibian had shown interest in buying fruits and vegetables from Zimbabwe.
“We already have an MoU which we signed during the state visit of our president, and Namibia previously requested Zimbabwe to supply vegetables and fruits; Zimbabwe also wants to buy meat and we are just waiting for the implementation because the MoU is already there,” she said.
The ambassador said by the end of this year, she hopes there will be movement of fruit and vegetables to Namibia as well as of beef to Zimbabwe since Zimbabwe’s beef stock is depleting.
Chivaka further said this will also be a way of assisting Namibia to be able to dispose off its animals as a drought mitigation factor for livestock farmers, reiterating that the agreements are already done awaiting implementation.
“You might hear very soon that the ministry responsible for implementation will be in Namibia to agree on the implementation programme,” she said. – Nampa