The African Development Bank Group's new Executive Director for the Southern Africa Group II Constituency, Eugénio Maria Paulo, concluded a five-day working mission to Zimbabwe, reaffirming the Bank's strong partnership as the country advances macroeconomic reforms and works to clear arrears and resolve debt.
The ED met with senior ministers responsible for finance, foreign affairs, energy, and agriculture to review progress on reforms and identify strategic areas for deeper collaboration.
He met with the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, and Bank Group Governor, Mthuli Ncube, to discuss macroeconomic stabilisation, arrears clearance, and alignment of the Bank's support with national priorities. Both sides underscored the importance of sustaining reform momentum and mobilising long-term development finance.
He reaffirmed the Bank's commitment to Zimbabwe and the region during a visit to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amon Murwira. A meeting with the Minister of Energy and Power Development, July Moyo, discussed ongoing investments in energy security.
The ministerial engagements concluded with Anxious Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, who outlined Zimbabwe's agricultural transformation agenda under Vision 2030. He emphasised climate-smart agriculture, smallholder modernisation, and agro-industrialisation.
Paulo held discussions with the co-chairs of the Sector Working Groups under the Structured Dialogue Platform (World Bank, IMF, UNDP, EU, and Switzerland) to review progress on Zimbabwe's arrears clearance and debt resolution process.
A private-sector roundtable with leading financial institutions examined constraints on long-term finance and opportunities to unlock private capital for value-chain industries.
The Executive Director also consulted various farmer groups, including the Commercial Farmers Union, the Compensation Steering Committee, and PROFCA, gaining insights into land tenure, compensation, and ongoing efforts to consolidate stability in the agricultural sector.
In Chinhoyi, Paulo visited the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Marian Chombo, who highlighted Mashonaland West's leadership in cereal production, wheat output, and expansion of climate-smart agriculture.
The delegation visited Tihal Agric Limited, operated by Tichaona Mapfoche, a beneficiary of the Seed Revolving Fund under the Zimbabwe Emergency Food Production Project. His farm specialises in maize, wheat, and potatoes.
In Lion's Den, the mission visited Fundisai Estates- a beneficiary of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism. Through a $4.3 million partial trade credit guarantee, farmers have improved access to fertilizer on credit.
The mission concluded with a tour of the Bank-supported Alaska-Karoi Transmission Reinforcement Project, which delivered an 85 km 132 kV transmission line and increased available capacity from 18 MVA to 118 MVA. The project dramatically improved power reliability, reducing outages by more than 350% and 790% respectively, while connecting 5,392 new customers to the grid.
ED Paulo concluded the mission by reaffirming the Bank's support and highlighting the strong alignment between Zimbabwe's and the African Development Bank's development priorities.
