BUSINESS REPORTER
Marjorie Mpundu began her reign on Monday as the World Bank’s country manager for Zimbabwe with a mandate to enhance good working relations with the government and all the stakeholders.
She took over from Rosemary Mukami Kariuki who is now the bank’s country manager for Uganda.
In her new position, Mpundu’s top priorities will be to continue to develop and implement the Bank’s strategy of engagement in Zimbabwe, through technical assistance and trust-funded activities, which includes support for Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 response, the bank said in a statement Tuesday.
“Zimbabwe, like other countries, continues to bear the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and requires strategic support to save lives, protect livelihoods, enhance economic growth, and improve social sectors,” Mpundu said.
“Thus, our work through technical and financial assistance will seek to respond to these diverse challenges while contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction, with emphasis on post-Covid recovery.”
The World Bank is currently administering the Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund (ZIMREF) which was established in 2014 to strengthen the country’s systems for reconstruction and development.
ZIMREF has multi-sectoral projects that support the business environment, gender, education, public financial management, climate change, state owned enterprises and poverty monitoring.
The US$150m World Bank Country portfolio also includes the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project, the Health Sector Development Project and the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project.
The portfolio also includes the IFC’s advisory programmes, namely the Victoria Falls Tourism Destination Programme, Health Care Quality Assurance Assessment and Zimbabwe Warehouse Receipts Programme.
A Zambian national, Mpundu holds an LLB from the University of Zambia, an LLM (international business) from the University of Manchester and an LLM (international Law) from Cornell Law School.
She joined the World Bank in 2005 as a legal associate in the Legal Vice Presidency and held various positions in legal covering Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, including as decentralised senior counsel in Australia and in Kenya. Recently, she was the senior strategy and operations officer in the office of the vice president for Eastern and Southern Africa.
