TODAY, the world comes together at Expo 2020 Dubai to celebrate Zimbabwe’s National Day, a culmination of the country’s six-month long marketing efforts in the United Arab Emirates that has many potentially lucrative investment and trade enquiries.
Expo 2020 Dubai, featuring 192 participating countries, including Zimbabwe, began on 1 October 2021 and will reach a finale on 31 March 2022, with each participating nation getting a unique opportunity to share its national prospects and rich cultural heritage.
The Zimbabwe National Day proceedings, running under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,’ will be officially opened by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Besides the international audience, this auspicious event will also be attended by Zimbabwe government officials and members of the Zimbabwe business community.
To add much- needed colour to the special day, Zimbabwe has roped in multi -award winning Zimbabwe contemporary musician Mukudzei Mukombe, popularly known as Jah Prayzah. The gifted entertainer, who is widely regarded as Zimbabwe’s most popular musician, is billed to provide a shop window of Zimbabwe’s rich cultural heritage tonight with a performance at the Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre from 1700 hrs to 1800 hrs.
Gifted with a deep voice, the lanky crooner has dominated the local music industry for the past decade, and has previously collaborated with well-known African artistes such as Tanzanian Diamond Platnumz, Patoranking, Kenyan Afropop band Sauti Sol, Nigerian songbird Yemi Alade, the immensely popular Mafikizolo from South Africa as well as the late internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi.
The travel and participation of Jah Prayzah and his group at Expo 2020 Dubai was sponsored by Zimbabwe’s property giant – West Property. According to West Property’s chief executive officer, Ken Sharpe the funding of Jah Prayzah tour of Dubai is in keeping with his company’s efforts to put brand Zimbabwe on the global map.
“As a proudly Zimbabwean company, West Property’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai, including the sponsorship of Jah Prayzah, is our small way of promoting brand Zimbabwe on the big global stage for the benefit of every Zimbabwean,” Sharpe said.
Zimbabwe is rich in mineral resources. The predominant minerals include platinum, chrome, gold, coal, and diamonds. The country boasts the second-largest platinum deposit and high-grade chromium ores in the world, with approximately 2.8 billion tons of platinum group metals and 10 billion tons of chromium ore.
The country also enjoys a warm climate and a picturesque landscape – perfect feats for agriculture and tourism, respectively.
For the first time in World Expo history, each of the 192 participating countries has its own pavilion, adding to the Expo partner pavilions, organisation pavilions and special pavilions, making this maiden World Expo in the Middle East a unique opportunity and rewarding experience for all participating countries and organisations alike.
The Zimbabwe Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is modelled on the Great Zimbabwe monument and the iconic Victoria Falls. All visitors to the Zimbabwe pavilion have a chance to experience a virtual tour of the country’s seven wonders. These fascinating seven wonders include the majestic Victoria Falls – one of the Seven Wonders of the World, people and culture, rich history and heritage, the monumental Great Zimbabwe, pristine wildlife and nature, the mighty Zambezi, the mythical Kariba and the mystique of the Eastern Highlands.
Located within the African savanna ecosystem of tropical grasslands with warm temperatures year-round and with its highest seasonal rainfall in the summer, Zimbabwe is home to all of Africa’s celebrity animals. Apart from its unique climate, which is ideal for tourism, agriculture and renewables, Zimbabwe also boasts of a highly educated young and skilled population, an advantage which has won the favours of many serious investors.
