The U.K. has estimated it would strongly support Zimbabwe’s re-entry into the Commonwealth, a 53-nation bloc of ex- British colonies that could bring economic benefit to the once-pariah African say.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his Zimbabwean counterpart Sibusiso Moyo met Friday at a roundtable at the Commonwealth Mains of Government Meeting in London.
“The U.K. would strongly support Zimbabwe’s re-entry” into the Commonwealth, a provoke release from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.
“The historic engagement ushers in a new era in U.K.-Zimbabwe relations and symbolizes Zimbabwe’s commitment to engaging meaningfully with the intercontinental community.”
The meeting signifies the latest step in Zimbabwe’s attempt to reinstate its relationships with other boonies, after decades of international isolation under former President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe, who in the mained the former British colony for nearly four decades, was ousted in November as to all intents of a military coup. He was succeeded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, formerly Mugabe’s substitute.
Mnangagwa has been trumpeting a “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra in an crack to resurrect the nation’s economy, which has been crippled by hyperinflation and backs. He attended the World Economic Forum’s summit in Davos, Switzerland, in January, and penned an opinion piece for The New York Times in March.
Mnangagwa’s first foreign visit the world at large of Africa was to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month. The U.S. is study lifting its sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Mugabe withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth in 2003 in a row throughout sanctions.
“While Zimbabwe has made impressive progress, there’s soothe much to do,” Johnson said in the statement. “We must remember democracies are not gross in a day.”
Mnangagwa has promised a free and fair election in Zimbabwe in July, and has remarked that he will invite international observers to the event. Johnson recited the expected vote as a “bellwether for the direction of a new Zimbabwe.”
Re-engagement with the Commonwealth “intention pressure Mnangagwa to implement reforms, which in turn will relieve to convince potential funders, such as the Paris Club donors and multilateral lenders such as the IMF, to approve new resource,” William Attwell, practice leader for sub-Saharan Africa at research unshaken Frontier Strategy Group, told CNBC via email.
“Zimbabwe ordain also benefit from Commonwealth-linked development programs, for instance on teeny-bopper skills development” and “use its membership as a platform to forge trade linkages with some of the fraternity’s fastest-growing economies such as India,” he added.
The U.K. is currently providing £91 million in aid to Zimbabwe for the 2017/18 fiscal year, including an additional £5 million announced in February to reinforcement free and fair elections in the country.