Sunday Mail Reporter
Zimbabwe’s growing gross domestic product (GDP), rising exports and expanding international engagement are proof of the country’s resilience despite two decades of sanctions, a senior ZANU PF official has said.
In a statement issued ahead of the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day commemorations today, ZANU PF National Political Commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha said the country had continued to pursue its development ambitions despite restrictions that have constrained access to international capital and markets.
He said the party remained grateful for regional and international solidarity in pressing for the total removal of the illegal embargo.
“Two decades following the imposition of the devastating sanctions regime, Zimbabwe stands stronger, more confident and more united than ever before,” he said.
“The Anti-Sanctions Day has grown beyond being a day of remembrance. It is now a celebration of resilience, resistance and the policy innovations that have placed Zimbabwe on an upward growth trajectory. Sanctions narrowed our access to capital and markets. They could not narrow our ambition. Zimbabweans looked inward, discovered their own capabilities and chose to build with their own hands.”
Zimbabwe’s GDP, he said, had grown from US$16 billion in 2017 to US$66 billion in 2026, while GDP per capita had increased from US$1 200 to US$3 500 over the same period.
Exports had also risen from US$2 billion in 2017 to more than US$20 billion, he added.
Cde Machacha attributed the gains to domestic investment, infrastructure development, agricultural production and efforts to promote value addition and beneficiation across key sectors of the economy.
He said infrastructure projects, funded largely through domestic financial and human resources, reflected the country’s determination to pursue development despite external constraints.
“Self-reliance and hard work have ensured that the intended harm of sanctions failed,” said Cde Machacha.
“Our infrastructure, built predominantly with local financial and human capital, shows the dividends of self-confidence.
“The progressive Land Reform Programme, which triggered the sanctions, has guaranteed Zimbabwe’s food security.
“Mechanisation, irrigation expansion and storage financing have grown agro-industries and opened new value chains in mining, manufacturing and technology.”
He said the newly established Cabinet portfolio for Economic Development and Investment Promotion would help consolidate policy consistency under the National Development Strategy 2 and strengthen Zimbabwe’s position as an investment destination.
He urged international investors to take advantage of the country’s mineral wealth, fertile land and skilled workforce, reiterating the Government’s position that Zimbabwe was open for business.
Cde Machacha also pointed to Zimbabwe’s election to the United Nations Security Council and its chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa as evidence of the country’s expanding international engagement.
Zimbabwe, he added, would continue strengthening existing partnerships and building new relationships under the Government’s engagement and re-engagement policy, guided by the principle of being “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.
