'Britain is fully behind us,' claims Shiri

Britain fully backs the new Zimbabwe government and its economic turnaround efforts, Agriculture Minister Perrance Shiri has said.

He said Britain had expressed its support and confidence in President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration by making available a $100 million grant to support Harare's industrialisation drive.

Shiri's remarks come at a time when London and Harare are mending relations following the military assisted ouster of Robert Mugabe in November last year.

Opposition critics have, however, accused the country's former colonial master of warming up to Mnangagwa, which they said posed far reaching consequences for Zimbabwe's democratic space ahead of the crucial July 30 election.