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Philippe Van Damme

Senior Business Reporter
THE European Union (EU) has pledged to avail an additional €1 million to Zimbabwe for agricultural projects under the regional integration mechanism managed by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), an official has said.

The EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Philippe Van Damme said his bloc would soon sign the funding deal with the government following the complimentary €4.2 million it has forwarded to Comesa.

“Shortly we’ll sign an additional €1 million regional integration support programme with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the International Trade Commission, which shall focus on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

“We’ve already started planning the identification of a larger €7 million trade facilitation programme under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) regional indicative programme,” said Van Damme.

“This new programme will assist the government of Zimbabwe in updating its private sector and trade policies and contribute to further regional integration.

“The private sector support programmes have to be conceived with you (private sector), implemented through you and funded for you.”

Van Damme said they had signed the 11th EDF National Indicative Programme whose governance and economic growth through agriculture were two of the focal sectors of the programme.

He said the government support programmes should help create a more conducive economic and political environment for the private sector.

“We’re also developing a Zimbabwe agricultural growth programme with the government, including a very significant support to the livestock sector. With this package of complementary programmes, I hope we can develop a coherent, complementary package of programmes to help Zimbabwe’s private sector to rebound in what is a very difficult environment,” said Van Damme.

The EU lifted its decade-long economic sanctions on Zimbabwe last November and immediately announced a €234 million (about $266 million) fund to support the country’s socio-economic programmes between 2015 and 2020.