AfDB Executive Director Reaffirms Strong Partnership with Zimbabwe During Working Visit
The African Development Bank Group’s Executive Director for the Southern Africa Group II Constituency, Eugénio Maria Paulo, has concluded a five-day mission to Zimbabwe, Highlighting the Bank’s continued support as the country advances macroeconomic reforms, strengthens debt resolution efforts, and accelerates development initiatives.
During the visit, Paulo met senior government officials responsible for finance, foreign affairs, energy, agriculture, and provincial development to review progress on reforms and identify strategic areas for deeper cooperation.
In a meeting with the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, Paulo discussed macroeconomic stabilisation, arrears clearance, and the alignment of the Bank’s assistance with Zimbabwe’s national priorities. Both sides highlighted the importance of maintaining reform momentum and mobilising long-term development finance.
Further discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amon Murwira, reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to Zimbabwe and the wider Southern Africa region. Engagements with the Minister of Energy and Power Development, July Moyo, focused on ongoing investments aimed at strengthening energy security.
The mission also included a meeting with Anxious Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, who outlined Zimbabwe’s agricultural transformation under Vision 2030. He emphasised the country’s focus on climate-smart agriculture, modernising smallholder production systems, and advancing agro-industrialisation.
Paulo also consulted development partners within the Structured Dialogue Platform including the World Bank, IMF, UNDP, EU and the Government of Switzerland to assess progress on the country’s arrears clearance and debt resolution process.
A private-sector roundtable with leading financial institutions explored constraints to long-term financing and opportunities to unlock investment for value-chain industries. Paulo additionally met with several farmer organisations, including the Commercial Farmers Union, the Compensation Steering Committee and PROFCA, where discussions centred on land tenure, compensation, and stabilisation of the agricultural sector.
Field visits featured an engagement with a beneficiary of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM) in Mashonaland West and a tour of farms supported through Bank-backed agricultural programmes. Among the sites was Tihal Agric Limited, operated by beneficiary farmer Tichaona Mapfoche under the Seed Revolving Fund, and Fundisai Estates, supported through a $4.3 million AFFM partial trade credit guarantee that has improved farmers’ access to fertiliser.
The mission concluded with an inspection of the Bank-financed Alaska–Karoi Transmission Reinforcement Project. The project delivered an 85 km 132 kV transmission line, increasing power capacity from 18 MVA to 118 MVA and significantly reducing outages, while connecting more than 5,300 new customers to the national grid.
Paulo closed the mission by reaffirming the African Development Bank’s unwavering support for Zimbabwe, noting the strong alignment between the country’s development priorities and the Bank’s strategic agenda.
