HARARE – Legendary globetrotter President Mugabe on Monday left Harare for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt where he will, in his capacity as chairman of the Sadc, launch the continent’s largest economic bloc; the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).
Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko will be the Acting President.
The TFTA will be launched at the 3rd Summit of the Tripartite Heads of State and Governments on Wednesday.
The Tripartite consists of 26 states that are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community and Sadc.
Foreign Affair Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said the President had been invited as Sadc chairperson.
Industry and Trade minister Mike Bimha who flew to Egypt on Saturday for pre-launch meetings said that the Tripartite chair is rotational.
“Sadc is the current chair of the tripartite arrangement. So the event is a major milestone in that not only does it create the largest economic bloc in Africa but it comes at a time that Sadc has adopted its Industrialisation strategy. To top it all, the launch comes at a time President Mugabe is the current African Union chairman.”
By May 10 this year, Mugabe had travelled at least 140,000 km to 14 African, Asian and East European countries.
After witnessing the swearing-in of new president Muhammadu Buhari, he took a plane to Sudan via Equatorial Guinea, where he spent two days, for the inauguration of president Omar al-Bashir.
His airborne sojourns have taken him to South Africa, Indonesia, Dubai, Singapore, Russia, Japan, Ethiopia, Botswana, Algeria and Tanzania.
Media reports have quoted unnamed diplomatic sources saying Mugabe takes with him some $4 million on every trip and is also paid a huge allowance.
Discover more from Nehanda Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
