POWER generation plans that the country is implementing should see Zimbabwe not only become electricity self sufficient by 2023 but also a net exporter as well, President Mnangagwa has said.

Updating political principals about the economic and infrastructural development progress made by the Second Republic at the fourth meeting of the the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) Friday, President Mnangagwa said his recent tour of Hwange had revealed that the country’s mining sector would soon be boosted by increased power generation which set the country on the path of self sufficiency.

“Also, much progress has been made towards the achievement of a US$12billion Mining Industry by 2023. My recent visit to Hwange revealed unassailable progress in the implementation of the coal to hydrocarbons development plans where it emerged that the country has over 5 000 megawatts of power in the pipeline, which should see Zimbabwe not only becoming self-sufficient in electrical power generation by 2023, but also a net exporter of electricity,” he said.

Infrastructural development projects around the country showed that, despite being hampered by sanctions, the country was still making significant progress, President Mnangagwa said.

“On the economic front, much progress has been registered in spite of the sanctions imposed by our detractors. Government has gone out of its way to institute innovative measures to spur the country’s development. This is evident by the various infrastructural projects that are evident as you transverse our major highways and communities in terms of schools and health centres,” he said.

President Mnangagwa said a National Venture Capital Fund had been established to help small businesses as they were potential drivers of economic growth.

“Cognisant of the role played by small and medium enterprises and the need to stimulate long term economic growth and higher levels of productivity, the Government established a ZW$500 million National Venture Capital Fund. The Fund aims to encourage sound entrepreneurship and innovation by Small and Medium Enterprises and help start-up businesses to grow.”

The president also said he had recently launched the Agricultural and Food Systems Transformation Strategy which seeks to achieve a US8.5 billion agricultural economy by 2025 while a US$5 billion strategy was also launched in Victoria Falls recently.