Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has thanked Southern African Development Community member states and international partners for sustaining calls to remove economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries since December 2001.
The address comes as the country intensifies efforts to drive economic transformation through regional integration and global partnerships.
In his speech marking the 2026 SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, President Mnangagwa said the restrictions continue to impede economic development, limit access to international finance, and constrain Harare’s participation in global trade. He called for the immediate and unconditional removal of what he described as “heinous and unjustified illegal unilateral sanctions”.
“These measures have no place in a progressive world and continue to impede the country’s economic development, undermine access to international finance and investment, as well as our full participation in global trade,” Mnangagwa said.
“Sanctions not only punish our country, but the entire SADC family and infringe Zimbabwe’s role in advancing an integrated Africa.
“On behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe and on my own behalf, I wish to express appreciation to SADC member states and allies in the progressive world, for their unwavering support in calling for the removal of unilateral and unjustified sanctions imposed on our country by some Western countries.”
The annual commemorations, held on October 25, were established during the 39th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2019.
The regional bloc designated the day for member states to collectively voice opposition to the restrictions, maintaining that the sanctions hold wider implications for regional economic cooperation.
Zimbabwe has been subject to United States and Western sanctions for more than two decades.
Mnangagwa stated that the solidarity demonstrated by regional states reflects a shared commitment to an international order founded on sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and the right of every nation to determine its own development.
He said this year’s theme aligned with national development aspirations to expand diplomatic relations, attract investment, and strengthen international economic cooperation.
“The theme for this year’s commemorations — ‘Leveraging Regional Integration and Global Partnerships for Economic Transformation Beyond Illegal Sanctions’ — is pertinent to our national development aspirations,” he said.
“Guided by the philosophy that ‘Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none’, we are strengthening diplomatic relations, broadening international engagement and pursuing economic transformation through a responsive national development agenda.”
The Government has increasingly emphasised regional markets, cross-border partnerships, and value addition to expand trade, create employment, and support industrial development.
Zimbabwe’s regional leadership responsibilities, including its chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), provide platforms to advance trade and investment cooperation. The country has identified stronger regional value chains, the removal of trade barriers, and increased processing of local raw materials as priorities for economic transformation.
SADC renewed its call for the complete and unconditional lifting of the restrictions in its 2026 Anti-Sanctions Day statement, urging dialogue with the countries that imposed them.
