Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has left for South Africa on his first foreign trip since taking office following Robert Mugabe’s resignation amid an army takeover last month.
The state-run Herald newspaper has tweeted a picture of him bidding farewell to Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, who will be acting president in his absence.
The Herald Zimbabwe @HeraldZimbabwe
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has left the country for South Africa on a one day working visit to meet his South African counterpart the President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma.http://www.herald.co.zw/latest-president-leaves-for-south-africa/ …
9:29 AM - Dec 21, 2017
Known as "the crocodile" because of his political cunning, Mr Mnangagwa is expected to be meet business people keen on investing in Zimbabwe on his trip. He has made reviving the economy his number priority.
Under President Mugabe's rule, the Herald says Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws were seen as a barrier by some investors as they require that an investment of more than $500,000 have at least 51% local black ownership.
But Mr Mnangagwa's government has announced plans to amend this requirement, restricting it to only diamond and platinum mining. Also more than three million Zimbabweans are estimated to live outside the country - many in South Africa - having fled the dire economic conditions over the past two decades.
Analysts say the new president will want to encourage this diaspora to come back home and invest too.