By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
HARARE — For decades, Zimbabwe’s livestock farmers have lived at the mercy of distant supply chains. When a transboundary animal disease breaks out, the clock starts ticking — and too often, the vaccines arrive late, if at all.
That era may soon be over.
Zimbabwe and Belarus are forging a landmark partnership that promises to transform the country into the Southern African Development Community’s leading hub for veterinary vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing, following the presentation of a draft Memorandum of Understanding between key stakeholders.
The proposed deal, valued at approximately US$50 million, brings together Belarusian veterinary biologics manufacturer BelAgroGen in an arrangement with Zimbabwe’s Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS), representing the Government of Zimbabwe.
The end of import dependency
Southern Africa has long been vulnerable to transboundary animal diseases, with vaccine availability chronically unreliable and heavily import-dependent.
The proposed partnership sets out to change that fundamentally, replacing dependence on distant supply chains with a home-grown, regionally owned production capability based in Zimbabwe .
The draft MOU, now under review through appropriate government channels, marks the most significant practical step yet toward realising the bilateral cooperation vision agreed at presidential level between Zimbabwe and Belarus in 2025 .
At the heart of the proposed partnership is an ambition that goes beyond a single investment: to position Zimbabwe as the region’s foremost centre for veterinary disease control — manufacturing vaccines and pharmaceuticals not only for Zimbabwe’s own national programmes, but for export across the SADC region .
A three-year plan
The proposed investment would be realised progressively, according to officials:
Year One: Immediate support of BelAgroGen‘s registered veterinary vaccines and pharmaceuticals into the Zimbabwean market
Year Two: Establishment of local processing and re-packing capability
Year Three: Construction and commissioning of a jointly owned veterinary manufacturing plant on Zimbabwean soil
“This is about Zimbabwe taking the lead in protecting the region’s livestock,” said Mr Andrei Molchan, Vice President of BelAgroGen . “We are talking about building something that serves all of Southern Africa — and building it here.”
Building human capital
Beyond manufacturing, the partnership envisions a substantial human capital dimension: scholarships for Zimbabwean students in Belarus, specialist training in veterinary medicine, vaccine research and biotechnology, and long-term research collaboration with Belarusian scientific institutions .
The objective is to build a generation of Zimbabwean scientists and technicians capable of running, growing, and innovating within a world-class veterinary pharmaceutical industry .
A strategic shift
For Zimbabwe, the partnership represents more than an industrial investment. It is a strategic shift from being a consumer of imported solutions to a producer of regional solutions — a move that aligns with the Second Republic’s vision of a prosperous and empowered upper-middle-income society by 2030 .
For SADC, it offers the prospect of a reliable, regional source of vaccines for diseases that have long threatened livelihoods and food security across the continent.
Next steps
The draft MOU is now under review through the appropriate government channels. If approved, the partnership would represent one of the most significant industrial investments in Zimbabwe’s pharmaceutical sector in recent memory — and a decisive break from the era of vaccine import dependency .
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