Jane Mlambo| President Emmerson Mnangagwa who has recently crossed swords with the west who have come out condemning the deteriorating human rights situation in the country is hoping he could win Japan to his side.

Mnangagwa is due to fly to Japan on for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) which kicks off on Wednesday and has lined up meetings with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in what the state owned Sunday Mail says is ‘a major engagement set to unlock mutually beneficial opportunities between Harare and Tokyo.”

The Japanese embassy’s counsellor to Zimbabwe, Mr Kenichi Kasahara ,told The Sunday Mail that Zimbabwe will need “international help” during its reform process, which Japan is willing to provide.

“The topmost point is that the President himself, President Mnangagwa, is going to Japan and he will meet Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe. We are actually arranging a bilateral meeting to be held on the sidelines of the summit,” said Kasahara.

With Mnangagwa’s re-engagement with the west including USA, UK, Germany, France and many others increasingly becoming a pie in the sky, he is hoping Japan will embrace his ‘Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra.

The EU and its member states have issued a strongly worded statement condemning the Mnangagwa regime over the recent wave of abductions, arrest and assault of civil society and opposition members.

This has watered down any hopes of getting aid and increased bilateral ties with the western world who are very serious about human rights and democracy ahead of any trade arrangements.

Will Mnangagwa win Japan and turn-around the ailing economy, only time will tell.