Zimbabwe needs to manage its brand imaging properly as this has a huge bearing on the country's ability to attract investment and developing its economy, a senior Government official said. [...] Why manage the country's image? We cannot afford to be isolated, we are a global player. That means countries are competing. 

"My cheeks are sore from smiling," says Loyce Maturu. The 24-year-old, who lives in Harare, Zimbabwe, is posing for a photo at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. She's come to be interviewed about her activism. She's a champion for people with HIV/AIDS and TB (she's been diagnosed with both). So really, the pain of smiling is nothing compared to what she's been through.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a ¥600 million grant-in-aid pledge to Zimbabwe on Monday to help bring more Japanese companies back to the former agricultural powerhouse amid an aggressive foray by China. [...] also said Japan would maintain close consultation with Zimbabwe to counter the severe food shortages there.

South Sudan’s education minister, John Gai is in Zimbabwe to plans to hiring of hundreds of its teachers and nurses to work in the young nation. The Zimbabwean Chronicle newspaper reported recently that Juba intends to hire 20,000 Zimbabwean graduates to work at internationally-paid rates equivalent to those given to United Nations staff.

Huntertones, a Brooklyn-based musical band, is set to tour Zimbabwe next week as part of their 2016 international music tour [...] The cultural diplomacy programme is facilitated by an American non-profit organisation, American Music Abroad (AMA), through a grant from a US Department of State. AMA facilitates people-to-people cultural exchange programmes designed to communicate America's musical contributions and diverse culture to the global music scene

Beijing has sought to improve its public image through a soft-power strategy meant to show Zimbabweans that the dragon has a soft, charming underbelly. In 2006, China opened a Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe to spearhead the teaching of Mandarin and the propagation of Chinese culture. Students are keen on mastering the language, seeing it as a passport to new horizons on the international job market.