EU set to inject €41 million to help Zim revive struggling health system

Despite the ruling Zanu-PF party’s notion that the European Union (EU) targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe are behind the struggling economy, the EU is set to inject €41 million to help the country revive its struggling health care services.

On Monday, EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jobst Von Kirchmann met with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care where they discussed reengagement issues and how the Western countries could help revive Zimbabwe’s economy.

Kirchmann assured Chiwenga that the EU was ready to support Zimbabwe. During the meeting, it was also revealed that the EU was one of the biggest trading partners of Zimbabwe in the world.

This is despite the fact that the union imposed sanctions on certain individuals and companies in Zimbabwe.

“We discussed the whole spectrum of the relationship between the EU and Zimbabwe, more specifically the health sector. Regarding the relationship, we both agreed that we have a very lucky moment because the constructive reengagement strategy initiated by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa has created a conducive working environment,” Kirchmann said.

“Today, we started by looking at our economic relationship. The EU has an economic agreement with Zimbabwe. We are the fourth biggest trading partner, there is always €700 million per year and we hope that we can increase this further.

“We also support the national development strategy in many aspects and there is more to come in the future, in particular areas like agriculture, climate, and also gender equality empowerment. We very much support the efforts of the Zimbabwean Government to improve the health situation.

“We have just signed with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inject €41 million into the health fund.

“We were looking into possibilities when that could be launched because we are by far the biggest donor in that health fund. The undertaking builds on the health fund that is already there and it will also support the country’s efforts for the future to improve the health situation.

“We also intend to look at the Zimbabwe-EU relationship in a holistic way. There are so many points where we could work together and so many ties which have been created,” he said.

Western countries imposed sanctions on certain individuals, banks and companies that they believed were either undermining democracy or involved in corruption.