Nyore Madzianike Senior Zimpapers Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has thanked SADC member states and other international partners for sustaining calls for the removal of sanctions imposed on the country by some Western countries since December 2001.
This comes as the country intensifies efforts to drive economic transformation through regional integration and global partnerships.
In his address to mark the 2026 SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, President Mnangagwa said the restrictions continued to impede economic development, limit access to international finance and investment, 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,” said President Mnangagwa.
“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 SADC Anti-Sanctions Day was adopted by SADC at its 39th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2019.
The regional bloc designated the day as an opportunity for member states to collectively voice their opposition to the sanctions and call for their removal.
SADC has maintained that the sanctions have wider implications for regional economic cooperation and integration.
Zimbabwe has been subject to US and other Western sanctions for more than two decades. The measures have evolved over the years, with targeted sanctions against designated individuals and entities forming part of the restrictions.
The US terminated its Zimbabwe-specific sanctions programme in March 2024 but imposed targeted measures on selected individuals and entities under a separate legal framework.
President Mnangagwa said the solidarity demonstrated by regional states and other partners reflected a shared commitment to a fair international order founded on sovereign equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and the right of every nation to determine its own development path.
President Mnangagwa said this year’s theme aligned with the country’s development aspirations and its efforts 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.
“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,” he said.
The Government has increasingly emphasised regional markets, cross-border partnerships and value addition as avenues for expanding trade, creating employment and supporting industrial development.
Zimbabwe’s regional leadership responsibilities, including its chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), also 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 locally produced raw materials as priorities for economic transformation.
SADC has reiterated its support for the removal of sanctions, arguing that their effects extend beyond Zimbabwe thereby affecting the entire region.
In its 2026 Anti-Sanctions Day statement, the regional bloc renewed its call for their complete and unconditional lifting and urged dialogue with the countries that imposed them.
President Mnangagwa said continued solidarity and international partnerships remained important as Zimbabwe pursued its development objectives and sought to deepen its participation in regional and global economic affairs.
