by Azeez Adeniyi

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has said his country is “most highly developed country in Africa” after South Africa.

While speaking at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, Mugabe said his country was more developed than Nigeria and Egypt.

He said, “After South Africa, I want to see what country has the level of development that you see in Zimbabwe.”

“We have over 14 universities and our literacy rate is over 90 [%] – is the highest in Africa.

“Yes, we have our problems… but we have resources, perhaps more than the average country in the world, is it gold, diamond, coal… and our agriculture is very viable and this year we will have a bumper harvest.”

He added that the economy was improving, and denied that the country was a fragile state.

Zimbabwe was ranked 24th on the UNDP’s Human Development Index for Africa, and 154th in the world.

Nigeria came in on the development index at 152.

Azeez