Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my singular honour and privilege

accord to you today to give you a warm welcome to Zimbabwe, to

Mutare, and to this auspicious occasion The 24 th Association of
French Studies in Southern Africa (AFSSA) Congress.

At this juncture, allow me to take a moment to recognise and to

commend Africa University for successfully making the bid to host

this years Congress. I am reliably informed that this is the second

time that the AFSSA Congress has come out of South Africa, the

first time being in 2008, when it was held in Botswana.

Congratulations Africa University for bringing this regional

congress to Zimbabwe! Mes felicitations a tous!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand that the mandate of AFSSA is

to promote research and teaching of the French language,

literature and culture in various educational institutions,

particularly universities, colleges and schools in Southern Africa. I

wish to applaud this worthy initiative for the reason that, we live

in a global village and with globalization, it is therefore necessary

for as many people as possible to acquire French as a foreign

language. Moreover, within our Continental Organisation, the

African Union, the largest linguistic group of member states is

francophone.
I am therefore pleased that our local Universities, such as Africa

University, are in sync with AFSSAs mandate and are investing a

great deal teaching French. I am informed that Africa University

has put in place a multilingual policy that ensures that graduates

are conversant in at least two international languages, and French

is one of those languages. As a Pan-African University that has

staff and students from 28 African countries, it is only

understandable and commendable that the University goes

beyond teaching one international language, English, which is

widely spoken in the host country. This is a welcome initiative.

This initiative will make graduates not only fluent in the language,

but also employable in different African countries and even

around the globe. This gesture encourages student and talent

mobility. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science

and Technology Development is very supportive of this.

As a Ministry, one of our primary objectives under Zimbabwes

Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation

(ZimASSET) is to guarantee human capital development. It

therefore gives us great pleasure to note that a lot of Africa

University graduates will be employable not only in Zimbabwe but

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in francophone Africa as they will not be limited by language

barriers. Those graduates, will play their part in Africas quest for

continental integration.

To the organisers of this event, allow me to express my sincere

gratitude for your planning and coordination. Special thanks go to

the host of this event, Africa University. Je vous dire, Merci

beaucoup. I know all of you have been working very hard since

the planning of this event began. Africa University continues to

play an integral role in the development of our country,

Zimbabwe. This congress has contributed immensely to our

national event tourism sector. You will agree with me that

travellers who come for business purposes, either to meetings,

conferences, workshops and congresses like this one, do

contribute greatly to the visibility of the destination they have

visited. As a Ministry we truly appreciate Africa Universitys

efforts and dedication and we appreciate the presence of each

and every delegate here this week for this event, which in our

view contributes to pulling down communication barriers and

erecting communication bridges.

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In conclusion, allow me to once again welcome the participants of

this congress who have come from different parts of the world. On

behalf of the Zimbabwean Government and the Ministry of Higher

and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, you

are most welcome to Zimbabwe. Soyez le bienuenue et bon

travail.

Je vous remencie

END.