A Danish business delegation met with representatives from local businesses and government on Monday, in a major leap for bilateral cooperation between the two countries, aimed at strengthening trade and investment ties.
Organized by the Danish Food Council, in collaboration with Access2Innovation and Afrika Consultancy, the mission—a first of its kind—is set to foster impactful partnerships across sectors, including sustainable food systems and clean energy.
Access2innovation, based in Denmark, is a network established in 2007 by DanChurchAid, the North Denmark EU Office, the South Denmark EU Office, the Confederation of Danish Industry, and the Departments of Development and Planning and Energy Technology at Aalborg University.
Meanwhile, Afrika Consultancy is a business consultancy also located in Denmark that links projects, organisations and investors from Nordic countries with eastern and southern African markets.
“This delegation brings together some of Denmark’s most innovative companies and investors, aligned with Zimbabwe’s growth priorities,” Afrika Consultancy founder Florence Charamba Christensen said.
“We are confident this engagement will open new opportunities that benefit both our countries and help address pressing challenges in food security, sustainable energy, and industrial development.”
The business roundtable came as a precursor to the 22nd Africa-Nordic Foreign Ministers Meeting, where African ministers are scheduled to meet counterparts from five Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
This meeting has been scheduled from October 2-3 in Victoria Falls.
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“Our minister is coming to the Summit later this week so we decided that we could make a delegation also coming here to Harare and look into what kind of business we could do in Zimbabwe,” Danish Agriculture and Food Council, chief advisor Jeppe Søndergaard Pedersen told NewsDay.
“There’s quite a few companies that have joined (the trip), and they see quite big opportunities here in Zimbabwe due to the tradition for producing a lot of food here.”
Denmark, a leading farm produce exporter in Europe, is set to build partnerships, explore investment opportunities, and foster innovation across agriculture, food processing, and green energy.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries chief executive officer Sekai Kuvarika said the back-to-back exchange between businesses comes at an opportune time, as it gives investors a chance to interact with local products.
“I’m happy that it's happening at the back of the Nordic Africa Foreign Ministers Forum, which is also coming up,” she said.
“I think that these moments are always an opportunity to rekindle economic relationships and also maybe to realign common interests and mutual interests.”
Dan Church Aid (DCA) country director Mads Schack Lindegaard said the engagement was a first of many and marks the beginning of long-standing commitments to advancing sustainable development in the country.
“Dan Church Aid is the biggest investor from Denmark into Zimbabwe agriculture, and I think now we have reached maturity within this industry that warrants an upscale,” Lindegaard said.
“We are always very focused on creating business and connecting farmers to markets, and for us this is an opportunity, and that's why we have been driving this process very hard to attract the Danish companies to the country in order for relationships to grow and form.”
