Today, I had the honor of virtually connecting with leaders, experts, and partners at the 8th Meeting of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Regional Committee for Africa, proudly hosted in our beautiful resort city of Victoria Falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya. Zimbabwe is humbled by the global community's confidence in our nation to host this pivotal summit. We remain deeply committed to advancing Africa's critical role in the global energy transition agenda. We commend Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and President Emmanuel Macron of France for their ongoing commitment to strengthening solar energy partnerships with Africa. Africa possesses some of the world’s richest natural endowments. Our solar resources must be viewed as vital instruments to industrialize, modernize, and scale up access to essential services in line with the African Union Agenda 2063. We must deploy greater leverage around regional and continental financing platforms, maximizing regional electricity markets and shared infrastructure. Our transition must be just, inclusive, and leave no one and no place behind. We bear a shared responsibility to empower our women and youth as central participants—whether as entrepreneurs, technicians, engineers, or investors. We must strengthen local capacity to manufacture, adapt, install, and maintain solar technologies. Initiatives like the Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR-C) are welcome initiatives that will contribute to increased technical knowledge, training, and skills transfer to our young people. The International Solar Alliance provides us with an excellent framework to optimize our solar potential, secure our energy systems, and uplift our people. Together, let us harness the power of the sun to bring prosperity to Zimbabwe and the entire African continent!(President of Zimbabwe)