Wallace Ruzvidzo — President Mnangagwa will have a packed schedule during the 44th SADC Summit in August as he is set to take his fellow Heads of State and Government on a tour of the Geo Pomona waste management operations in Harare, open the SADC Liberation Square at the Museum of African Liberation and deliver a public lecture at the University of Zimbabwe.
The President's public lecture will be titled: "Building research capacity and innovation ecosystems for a sustainable industrialised SADC economy".
Preparations for the SADC Summit are gathering momentum, with all specified roadworks set to be completed by the end of this month and the executive villas, near the new Parliament Building in Mount Hampden, ready by July 24.
The villas will be part of a proposed five-star hotel after the summit.
Speaking after yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said technical preparatory sub-committees had been established to effectively prepare for the summit.
The sub-committees cover transport, protocol and conferencing, accommodation, entertainment and excursions, security and accreditation, media and publicity, health and environment, information, communication and technology, industrialisation week and public lecture and finance.
"Cabinet considered the report on the preparations for hosting the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which was presented by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Honourable FT Mhona, on behalf of the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on SADC Summit preparations."
The tour of Geo Pomona waste management site and the opening of the SADC Liberation Square at the Museum of African Liberation will be held on August 18 along with the President's lecture, said Dr Muswere.
Responding to a question from The Herald during the briefing, Minister Mhona said considerable ground had been covered in the civil works as part of the preparations. Water reticulation, sewer and electricity were now in sync, with road infrastructure and accommodation being finalised.
The construction of other support infrastructure was also underway in Mt Hampden, including a dedicated 12,8km 11KV line from Mt Hampden to the new Parliament Building as well as other civil works.
" . . . I can say, in general, we are above the desired target as we speak and we are still earmarking June 30 for our roads and July 24 for our villas. On average, I can say we are now at 70 percent on all the major roads leading to the Parliament and New City and we also have a number of roads within the greater city, where we are now around 50 percent.
"We also have our villas as you know. We have got about 18 villas and we have started receiving the panels, as I speak, trucks are coming from Beira for the precast wall panels and we are 50 percent on that particular section," Minister Mhona said.
Dr Muswere said the SADC Summit would be preceded by the 7th Annual SADC Industrialisation Week, which would run from July 28 to August 2, under the theme: "Promoting innovation to unlock opportunities for sustainable economic growth and development towards an industrialised SADC".
At least 150 companies from across the region are expected to take part in the six-day event.
"The event, at which the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries will assume the chair of the SADC Business Forum, will be hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in collaboration with the SADC Secretariat, the SADC Business Council and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.
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"It is expected that 150 companies from the SADC region will participate at the event, comprising private sector players in the agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, pharmaceutical, financial, consumer and capital goods, women and youth, micro, small and medium enterprises and infrastructure sectors.
"The major highlights of the Industrialisation Week will be an investment conference official opening by His Excellency, the President and the ministers' plenary session," he said.
During the Summit, Zimbabwe will assume the chair of the regional bloc.
