27 JAN 2025 ZimLive

BULAWAYO – A Chinese company duped the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) after entering a partnership to close open pits left by artisanal miners in Umzingwane River, only to be found carrying out riverbed mining.

EMA terminated the partnership with the company called Friends of the Environment, but it is not clear if anyone was prosecuted.

The revelation was made last week by Tafadzwa Muguti, the secretary for presidential affairs and devolution in the president’s office who visited the catchment areas of major dams in Matabeleland South to witness the environmental catastrophe caused by illegal mining.

The activities of the company damaged a bridge at the confluence of Umzingwane and Inyankuni rivers and officials say contributed to poor inflows into major dams supplying Bulawayo with water.

Muguti said: “We had a Chinese company here, Friends of the Environment, who partnered with EMA and the province later found out that by day they were closing the pits in the name of Friends of the Environment and by night they were mining.

“They destroyed a whole bridge while looking for gold.”

Rampant illegal mining is being blamed for low levels of water at dams supplying the City of Bulawayo, even after decent rains recently.

“There was a caninet directive which ordered all provinces to intensify the anti-alluvial mining campaign,” said Muguti.

“Now this is almost a 150-meter bridge which was destroyed completely in the name of mining. This is Umzingwane River, it supplies water to Bulawayo and the collapse of this bridge is causing water challenges as the water has stopped flowing.”

Zimbabwe has seen an influx of investment in mining from Chinese companies, but Muguti admits that “not everyone is coming for the benefit of Zimbabwe.”

Bulawayo mayor David Coltart has been sounding the alarm over illegal riverbed mining which he says is restricting water flows to dams supplying the city with water.

Speaking at a residents meeting in Nkulumane two weeks ago, Coltart said: “I rode my bicycle 40km towards Umzingwane Dam last Saturday to assess the situation myself. I was shocked – not a single stream was flowing after all that rain. The reason? Illegal gold panners!”

JANUARY 20, 2025 Breezefm

The Mayor of Bulawayo has announced that Matobo women artists will design his gown, as the council aims to replace the traditional mayoral gown, which he describes as a “colonial relic.”

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the Matobo Goes Fashion exhibition on Friday meant to showcase the designs of Matobo women in art, the Mayor emphasized that the new gown will be ready by April.

He noted that collaborating with Matobo fashion designers will ensure it reflects the region’s rich cultural heritage and Zimbabwean traditions.

He also expressed his hope that the introduction of the new gown will demonstrate the city’s support for Matobo artists.

This initiative seeks to modernize the city and promote inclusivity, ensuring that the gown resonates with Bulawayo’s vision, culture, and heritage as they move forward.

Patricia Sibanda | Jan. 19, 2025 The Southern Eye

Frequent power cuts running into several hours per day are damaging water pumps at Bulawayo’s supply dams and worsening acute shortages of the commodity blamed on the 2024 El Nino-induced drought that ravaged the country, mayor David Coltart (pictured) has warned.

The Zimbabwe Power Company is failing to generate enough electricity to meet demand due to depressed generation capacity, resulting in rolling outages.

Unlike in previous years, power utility Zesa Holdings has not provided a timetable for load-shedding, and this hàs left individuals and businesses counting the costs of regular and intermittent power cuts.

In Bulawayo, the power cuts are worsening the city’s already dire water situation as they not only disrupt  water treatment works, but also lead to the damaging of critical pumps.

Coltart said the local authority had on several occasions engaged Zesa seeking to have the water treatment plants spared from load-shedding without success.

“If you go to Ncema, we have huge pumps there. They are not like your little borehole pumps that you can just turn on and off,” the mayor said in an interview.

“We have been pleading with Zesa to say before you load-shed, tell us so that we can switch our pumps off, instead they just switch off without warning.”

He said council wanted Zesa to spare the city’s waterworks from load-shedding to ensure uninterrupted supplies to residents as well as the power utility and other businesses. 

“Their unscheduled power cuts are damaging some of our pumps, and even when you have got water, we still have Zesa problem,” Coltart said.

“We are trying to get solar pump plants down at Ncema so that we can rely on solar power instead of depending on Zesa to run those pumps, but that cannot be done overnight.”

The local authority and Zesa were once at loggerheads over unexplained bills, resulting in the former turning to diesel generators for its main office in the central business district.

Bulawayo residents are going for days without water following the decommissioning of two supply dams last year after they ran dry.

The rains received to date have offered some hope that the situation at the city’s supply dams might improve, but indications from council show that the inflows have been very minimal.

Last year, the municipality appealed to the government to declare the city a water crisis area to enable the council to look for outside funding to undertake short-to-medium term interventions to alleviate the challenges.

However, the government turned down the request and instead, appointed a technical committee to undertake a research on how to address the water crisis.

The technical committee has failed to come up with interventions to address the city’s water crisis.

Patricia Sibanda | Jan. 15, 2025 | Newsday Zimbabwe

BULAWAYO City  Council (BCC) has said all sewage ponds in the city have collapsed resulting in an increase in pipe bursts.

“We have got a major problem with sewage. We have eight sewage ponds in the city and none of them is working.  Hence that is our purpose as the local authority to try and get them working,” Bulawayo mayor David Coltart told NewsDay.

“But it is a big problem and I appeal to all of you to help us because some of those blockages are caused by our negligence. We dump litter, plastic bottles, cutlery into the system and they block the pipes.”

He pleaded with residents to change their culture.

“We need every person to work with us so that we clean up the city. It starts with one person for us achieve the goal of cleaning up the city,” Coltart said.

Ward 22 councillor Mmeli Moyo said there was a shortage of tools used in maintaining sewer systems.

“We are supposed to have 40 of those wires but we are just managing the city with only six,” Moyo said.

Moyo said water shortage was also another major challenge as sewage has a co-relationship with water.

Recently ward 25 councillor Aleck Ndlovu disclosed that water shortage in Bulawayo is one of the main causes for sewage problems.

Ndlovu said long water-shedding hours being experienced in the city were constantly causing sewer blockages in the city.

Ndlovu said he held residents accountable for their carelessness in taking care of the drainage systems in their homes.

In 2022, Bulawayo councillors proposed that the local authority hires community plumbers to attend to pipe bursts.

Council blamed the incessant pipe bursts on ageing water and sewage reticulation infrastructure.

Council minutes show that city fathers are concerned about the increasing sewage pipe bursts which can trigger outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.

While it is a council requirement that the plumbers should have, among other things, a motor vehicle and plumbing equipment, councillor Silas Chigora said there was a need to relax some of the requirements.

In 2021, council said an estimated US$500 million was required over a 20-year period to upgrade the city’s water and sewage reticulation infrastructure.

Bulawayo continues to lose water due to pipe bursts and leaks, with an average of 90 faults being received per day.

Council is failing to attend to pipe bursts on time due to manpower shortages, resulting in backlogs.

In some suburbs, sewage flows into people’s homes, exposing residents to waterborne diseases.

In 2020, a diarrhoea outbreak killed 13 people in Luveve and infected several thousands.

The outbreak was blamed on contamination of potable water by sewage emanating from burst pipes.

14 Jan 2025 Bulawayo24 News

Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart has raised concerns over illegal gold mining activities, which he says are hindering rainwater from flowing into Mzingwane Dam and preventing the water body from aiding in addressing the city’s water challenges.

Coltart made these remarks on Sunday during his state of the city address at Nkulumane Hall in Ward 22. He expressed frustration over the low water levels in the city’s dams, despite the region experiencing significant rainfall.

“We have to sort out the water situation. We have a major problem with our dams. With all the rain that we’ve had over the past few months, our dams have only increased by 4%. Yesterday, our dams were still sitting at 28%. With all this rain, why have they only gone up by 4%?” Coltart said.

He explained that during a visit to Mzingwane Dam on Saturday, he was shocked to see that after 40 kilometers of travel, he did not spot a single stream flowing. “Illegal gold panning! They have dug up our rivers,” Coltart emphasized.

The mayor highlighted that while the city is focusing on the construction of a proposed dam from the 1990s, it is insufficient to meet the city’s growing water demands. Coltart stated that the focus is now on the construction of the Glass Block Dam.

“In December, I traveled to Morocco to meet with the African Development Bank. We had a very constructive discussion to try and raise the US$99.9 million needed to build the Glass Block Dam,” he said.

Coltart further mentioned that the city is close to finalizing the necessary agreements for the Glass Block Dam project, which he described as more cost-effective than the long-term Gwayi-Shangani Dam project.

“We are also planning to build a 32km pipeline from Glass to Ncema station. This will improve the water situation, though it will take two years to complete. We all need to be patient. Gwayi-Shangani is fine, but it’s long-term, and to build that 257km pipeline to Bulawayo needs a significant investment. Glass Block Dam will be more affordable,” Coltart added.

The mayor stressed the urgency of dealing with illegal mining activities, emphasizing their detrimental impact on the city’s water resources and the necessity of immediate intervention to ensure sustainable water management.

Published on ZimEye

A close friend of mine who is a businessman in Mozambique has sent me his assessment of the situation prevailing in Mozambique.

“Mozambique is one of the best kept secrets of Africa because of illiteracy, the language Português and its resources. Because of this there is little understanding of what is actually going on within the country.

Joaquim Chissano the former President who took over from Late President Samora Machel has spoken about the Venâncio Mondlane uprising as follows “No one since 1975 ( year of independence) has confronted us this way”.

Common talk is that Frelimo has never ever really won a free and fair election. People must remember that in 1994 Renamo under Dlakama officially managed 43% of the vote and Afonso Dlakama disputed the election until earstwhile enemy Mugabe had to intervene. It is believed that he did win the election but the seemingly less sophisticated outfit Executive he led was unappealing even to Europe and thus his cries were overlooked.

Chissano’s statement that “Since 1975 no one has confronted us like Venâncio Mondlane” ,makes the late Dlakama’s words seem prophetic. Afonso Dlakama said once on TV ,””Ad vir alguem mas Malandro Que Dlakama’ ( One leader will emerge naughtier than Dlakama).

Dlakama was succeeded by his deputy when he died , one Ussufo Momade , a Military General from the island of Mozambique. He was feared and rumoured to be ruthless. But with time and with Frelimo making moves into Renamo Momade has lost popularity and the public feel he is a sellout to Frelimo. Some unconfirmed rumours say his son married Filipe Nyusi’s daughter. In the last election Ussufo Momade’s Renamo lost badly to Frelimo which won 73%. In that election Venâncio Mondlane, who was in the Renamo party, is rumored to have won election to Mayor of Maputo. But peripheral Local authority votes from small towns like Marracuene were brought in to wipe out his lead . Everyone now says Frelimo should have let Venâncio be Mayor of Maputo because he might have not had ambitions to be National President.

Indeed Venâncio Mondlane is, as Dlakama said “naughty”. He is an ex bank worker, a qualified Evangelical Pastor and has been a member of most if not all major political parties in Mozambique. Talk of Frelimo – he has been there; he has been in Simango’s MDM , then Renamo was his penultimate party where he challenged Momade for the Party Presidency and was undemocratically and physically blocked from contesting. His supporters were beaten up at the Renamo Congress including Quelimane Mayor Araujo.

Without an alternative Venâncio approached little known PODEMOS a party that previously had not held seats in parliament. Riding on Venâncio’s popularity they won 43 seats in parliament.

Everyone I talk to in Mozambique ( And because of my business contacts and having worked here 24 years both north , south and centre my contacts base is wide ) says Venâncio Mondlane won the election. In Maputo my lady taxi driver told me “I am a Frelimo person but I voted Venâncio.” Those who voted Frelimo say ,” It’s about time Frelimo took a hiding ! We are Frelimo but don’t like how they Govern!” It is believed the Frelimo Candidate Daniel Chapo, a reasonable looking and sounding experienced administrator, who speaks both Shona and English, wanted a GNU and Frelimo said no. Chissano, Guebuza and Nyusi are said to be the agitators of stubbornness. It is said Chissano said “Náo vamos entregar!”( We won’t hand over ) saying “All of us around this table will end up in jail”. Chissano and Guebuza and one Chipande from the north ( rumored to be the first to fire a bullet against the Portuguese and related to Nyusi ) are the remnants of the struggle. They unofficially, fairly or unfairly, are suspected to be plotters against Samora Machel and their illegal practices made them want to keep Soviet style impervious secrecy . Samora Machel was against Politics mixing with business. Under Nyusi the kidnappings backed by Police ( there are cases where Europeans or Aga Khan Moslems have been kidnapped and representations have been made to Government and victims have been immediately released), drug dealings have increased. It is alleged that even Frelimo candidates for parliament are not chosen through primary elections but have to pay up to a million Meticais US$16 000)to become a candidate.

Now Podemos the party that borrowed Venâncio have been compromised by Nyusi ( familiar Zanu PF tactics ) They will be sworn in today . So Venâncio is now in conflict with Podemos .

People even believe the vandalism and looting that happened was sponsored by Frelimo to make Venâncio look bad .

But one may ask where does this wide support for Venâncio even from?

1. Frelimo supporters ?
2. ?Frelimo Executives ?
3. ?Police ?
4. ?Army ?
   People are tired of greed and corruption. Corruption is now endemic in Mozambique:
5. People who earn as little as 8000 Meticais a month are still expected to pay bribes of up to 200 000 Meticais for their children to get jobs;
6. ?Patients in hospitals don’t get attendance unless they pay 200 Meticais:
7. ?Drug dealer Indians and Mulatos ( Coloureds )in the north are the biggest contributors to Frelimo and are a law unto themselves;
8. ?Students in colleges and Universities cannot get good marks unless they pay a lecturer a bribe or agree to sex favors;
9. Even the war in the north is not believed to be genuine. No explanation is given as to what it is for !

There is suspense in the Country about what is going to happen now that Venâncio is back . He is now without a base as even his own Members of Parliament have been compromised. But he definitely has a larger base, which is the people.

Credit should go to Mozambican population for its political maturity. All the fervor about Venâncio is neither tribal no Regional. It is spontaneous and cross provincial . Credit should go to founder President Samora Machel for having made an effort to make Portuguese the local lingua Franca.

This story isnt over yet because neither Frelimo nor Podemos have the backing of the vast majority of the people.”

Published on the Brenthurst Foundation

Now that the dust has settled over the GNU and it has begun to settle on a reasonably functional governance path, South Africa is breathing a sigh of relief. Had the ANC chosen to form a ‘doomsday’ alliance with the MK Party or the EFF – or both – we would by now be experiencing the consequences including human and capital flight and the beginnings of the Russification of the country.

But this is no time for complacency. I was part of the MDC that entered the Zimbabwean Government of National Unity in February 2009. In many ways, the MDC got a better deal than the DA has cut with the ANC. The MDC’s leader, Morgan Tsvangirai was made Prime Minister, I was the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, and Tendai Biti was given the Finance Ministry among several others.

But, despite our efforts, the MDC – actually two parties, the MDC-M and the MDC-T – came out of the GNU poorly, as Zanu-PF used the GNU and the goodwill it generated internationally to hollow out the opposition and take the wind out of its sails. When the GNU was disbanded, Zanu-PF was stronger than ever and has managed by fair means and foul to stay in power ever since.

Here are some of the key lessons from our experience inside that GNU:
1. Assimilation of Opposition
Soon after the formation of the GNU in February 2009 and the swearing-in of Ministers, it became apparent that ZANU-PF would use the trappings of power to compromise MDC Ministers. In my case, one of the first acts of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education was to focus on the need for me to acquire a new Mercedez Benz vehicle. This literally became the priority over the fact that some 8 000 schools were closed and over 100 000 teachers were on strike when I took office. I resisted taking a new Mercedes Benz but nearly all other MDC Ministers succumbed and within a few months, their public persona was no different to that of the ZANU-PF ministers.  

Things went downhill from there. Several MDC Ministers themselves sought perks. For example, some Ministers insisted on being driven to the stairs of aircraft and insisted on emulating many of the practices of ZANU-PF Ministers to enhance their status. In the case of Morgan Tsvangirai, he was given a luxurious home in Harare which became the subject of considerable controversy. The use of all the trappings of power resulted in MDC Ministers being hard to distinguish from ZANU-PF Ministers by the end of the GNU in 2013.  

The stark difference between ZANU-PF leaders and MDC leaders prior to the GNU became fudged. As a result, those members of the electorate on the periphery of political parties, that is people who were not members of parties and had no real interest in parties, found very little to distinguish MDC Ministers from ZANU-PF Ministers which led to apathy in the August 2013 Election and a relatively low turnout.

2. Incompetence
In terms of the agreement that led to the GNU, Cabinet was to be chaired by President Mugabe (responsible for policy formulation), and a new body known as the Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was meant to be responsible for implementation of the policies agreed by Cabinet. The creation of the Council of Ministers, in theory, provided a significant opportunity for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC parties to exercise power, but that opportunity was squandered. The Council of Ministers was poorly run; it rarely started on time, was often cancelled, and there was inadequate follow up on its resolutions. It stood in stark contrast to Cabinet itself which was punctual and orderly. Ministers would never miss Cabinet meetings whereas they regularly missed Council of Ministers meetings. That was partly of course created by ZANU-PF Ministers who could not be held to account but very little was done to exercise discipline. As a result, within a few months of the commencement of the GNU, it became increasingly obvious that power lay in the Cabinet and all the real decisions were taken there. As time went on, the Council of Ministers became more and more ineffective.  

3. Naivety 
Whilst the two MDC Parties did not have the support they needed from SADC and the AU to force President Mugabe to allocate more influential Ministries, the fact of the matter is that the 2 MDC Parties were allocated what were termed “non-coercive,” but important, Ministries which included the Ministry of Finance, Education, Health and Industry & Commerce.  

Most MDC Ministers spent 5 years stabilising their respective Ministries and their relevant spheres of influence while, at the same time, ZANU-PF focused on consolidating its own power. By 2013 the economy had been stabilised, there were drugs back in hospitals, teachers were back teaching, hyper-inflation had been tackled and, as a result, there was far less economic pain for people and far less reason for them to exercise a protest vote against ZANU-PF as had happened in the March 2008 Election. ZANU-PF cynically allowed this situation and allowed the Ministries controlled by the MDC to prosper without allowing the MDC any headway in seeking to influence the coercive Ministries held by ZANU-PF. 

As a result, ZANU-PF’s control over the Military, the Police, the Judiciary and the Prison Service remained unaltered. They retained all the levers of power while the MDC somewhat naively applied all its focus on service delivery to people. Not that that was wrong but, on reflection, it is obvious that the leverage provided by running service Ministries well was never exercised to effectively change the coercive structures of power.

4. Miscalculations around the Constitution
Arguably the most important facet of the GNU was the Constitutional reform process. Whilst the new Constitution, which was endorsed by a Referendum in March 2013, was a significant improvement on the Lancaster House Constitution, the deficiencies in the 2013 Constitution illustrate the naivety and lack of tactical nouse displayed by the 2 MDCs parties during the GNU.  

Relatively junior people were delegated to head the MDCs’ Constitutional teams. Senior lawyers such as Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube had their work cut out for them in challenging Ministries and, whilst they were involved in the deadlock-breaking appeals committee, they were not in a position to fully devote their energies to the drafting of the Constitution itself.  

That situation was compounded by the fact that on some of the key debates regarding the constitution, the considerable leverage that the MDC Parties had was not exercised. For example, when it came to the key argument regarding the separation of powers, and in particular the reduction of the Executive’s powers, the 2 MDC parties made some key errors of judgment. 

As a result, the Office of the President was left with vast powers and no real movement was made towards moving from a Westminster system to, for example, a proportional representation system. There was insufficient consultation and strategic planning which went on within the 2 MDCs, something exacerbated by the fact that the 2 MDCs remained separate political parties and consequently, there was very little constructive discussion and strategic planning between the 2 parties to come up with agreed positions. Very often the MDC M Party would end up being a mediator between the MDC T and ZANU-PF parties rather than the 2 MDC parties presenting an agreed unified front to the ZANU-PF position. That situation was further exacerbated by overconfidence within the MDC T which thought that it would easily win the next election, and which did not share the MDC M’s disquiet regarding the substantial powers which were left in the hands of the Executive.

5. Little Reform to Key Institutions
Whilst the new constitution recognised key institutions such as the Judiciary and Media, and whilst the new constitution had new measures, which in theory enhanced the independence of institutions such as the Judiciary and the Media, in practical terms very little was done to reform those institutions.  

In the case of the judiciary, there was hardly any noticeable reform. The existing Judges remained. Although there were key changes to the constitution to strengthen the independence of the Judiciary, there were inadequate safeguards to protect those provisions. Furthermore, inadequate measures were taken to entrench the independence of the Judiciary. But, perhaps the most significant failure was the failure of the 2 MDC parties to effect change in the composition of the Judiciary during the 5 years of the GNU through the swearing-in of new Judges who had no obvious party affiliation. The net result was that, by the end of the GNU, there were theoretical changes to the Constitutional structure of the Judiciary but very little practical change, and even the Constitutional protections were easy to amend, as has in fact happened.  

The same applies to the media. Whilst there is one provision in the Constitution, (Section 62(4)), which tried to enforce the notion of an independent state media, there was little else in the Constitution focused on to practically allow the development of a vibrant and independent media in Zimbabwe. By the end of the GNU, there were still no independent radio or television stations and all the television and radio stations in 2013 remained either in the direct or indirect control of ZANU-PF.  

As a result of this, both the Judiciary and the Media since 2013 have remained largely within the control of ZANU-PF and the Mnangagwa Government has amended the Constitution and implemented policies which have made both institutions more partisan than they have ever been.  

The same applies to other institutions such as universities and Constitutional Commissions such as the Electoral Commission, Human Rights Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission. All of these bodies whilst recognised by the Constitution as “independent” are less independent now than their equivalent bodies were in 2008.

Lessons for the DA
Whilst the current situation in South Africa is substantially different to the conditions in Zimbabwe between 2009 and 2013, there are some lessons to be learnt as follows:

1. DA Ministers need to resist the trappings of power and should rather eschew as many of the current Cabinet benefits as possible. Much of this is a matter of public perception but a collective effort should be made towards setting a different standard for Ministers in terms of entourages, cavalcades and many of the symbols of power which irritate the general public and give the impressions that there is no difference between DA and ANC Cabinet members.
   2. I have been impressed by the apparent work ethic and output of many DA Minsters since taking office and this must be continued. The GNU is a marathon, not a sprint, and it is necessary to set out clear annual goals for the DA Ministries together with overarching goals for the life of the GNU. Then a vigorous public media campaign must be adopted, going beyond the individual Ministers themselves (some of whom are better at social media than others) to publicise and mark those goals and their achievement. The corollary to this is that the DA must not hesitate to do all in its power to remove and replace non performing Ministers.
   3.The DA needs to pay attention to areas which they do not control, particularly with regard to the safeguarding of the electoral process, the independence of the media, judiciary, civic bodies and universities. It is critical that they do all in their power to build these institutions whose independence should be enhanced during the tenure of the GNU.
   4. An increasing focus should be on SADC and its member states. Whilst foreign policy concerns beyond SADC are obviously important, the future of democracy in South Africa ultimately will depend  on whether a majority of SADC countries become democratic or not. In other words, in my view, the primary foreign policy goal should be the democratisation of region rather than international issues such as, for example,  Ukraine and Gaza . Whilst these international issues obviously remain important, my view is that the DA should focus on a strident foreign policy which will, for example, enhance free, fair, lawful and independently run elections in the region and see the restoration of the SADC Tribunal.

Published on Bulawayo24

Senator David Coltart, the Mayor of Bulawayo, held a pivotal meeting on Thursday with Nicholas Mulkey from the United State’s Atlanta Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs. Mulkey is currently in Zimbabwe to strengthen international collaborations and strategic partnerships between cities, with a special focus on Bulawayo.

The discussions centered around several key areas aimed at fostering mutual growth and development between the two cities. One of the primary topics was the exploration of a Strategic Partnerships Program that would encourage collaboration between Atlanta, Bulawayo, and other regional capitals. The goal is to promote sustainable urban development, economic growth, and enhance city-to-city cooperation.

A significant part of the dialogue also focused on the introduction of the Global Innovation Network, which leverages Atlanta’s established startup ecosystem and its rich culture and arts scene. The network would aim to co-develop market-based solutions tailored specifically to Bulawayo’s challenges and opportunities in areas such as urban planning, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship.

Cultural exchange and tourism development also featured prominently in the discussions. The two parties explored ways to establish initiatives that would celebrate Bulawayo’s vibrant heritage while connecting it to Atlanta’s global networks. These initiatives aim to boost tourism and foster cultural diplomacy between the cities.

The talks also touched on building an economic bridge that would facilitate access for Bulawayo-based entrepreneurs and businesses to U.S. markets through Atlanta. This would open doors for trade and investment opportunities, benefiting both cities economically.

Additionally, the potential for Bulawayo’s participation in Atlanta’s Global Opportunities Week was discussed. This event offers a platform for showcasing investment and cultural exchange projects to the American market, which could provide substantial exposure for Bulawayo-based initiatives.

Finally, the meeting explored the broader concept of city-to-city collaboration. The two cities discussed sharing best practices in municipal governance, urban innovation, and sustainable development, positioning Bulawayo as a model for regional capitals.

The meeting marks a significant step in strengthening the relationship between Bulawayo and Atlanta, with the potential to bring about tangible benefits for both cities in areas ranging from economic development to cultural exchange.