- Challenges should not overshadow the good results achieved so far, says former president Chissano
- “Zimbabwe has made a lot of progress, against all odds. Now, we all should rally around it to conclude this process,” Adesina
- Former farm owners welcome compensation payment
International organisations, creditors, and other stakeholders in the Zimbabwe arrears clearance and debt resolution unanimously acknowledged on Monday that tremendous progress has been made after two years of an extensive Structured Dialogue process but observed several challenges that need to be addressed.
At a roundtable meeting on Zimbabwe’s Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process held on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, participants highlighted achievements in two of three reform areas: economic growth and stability, land reforms, and compensation of former farm owners. However, they called for more effort in the governance pillar.
“The parameters of the dialogue have been set. Most issues have been dealt with. Commitments and targets have been agreed upon. We should all be proud of the dialogue process and what it has achieved,” said Joachim Chissano, former president of Mozambique and facilitator of Zimbabwe’s Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process.
Other speakers included Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank and champion of the dialogue process; Ndiamé Diop, the World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa; Abebe Selassie, Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who represented the Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva; representatives of the governments of the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany; and the Southern African Development Community Executive Secretary Elias M. Magosi.
“Zimbabwe has made a lot of progress, against all odds,” said Adesina, pointing out, however, that recent ascent to the Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) bill is a significant setback and poses a risk to the arrears clearance and debt resolution process.
Adesina laid out several concrete next steps, including the need for the IMF to approve the Staff Monitored Programme for Zimbabwe at the Spring Meetings, support from potential donors for bridge loan financing, exploration of additional resources from the African Development Fund, and prioritisation of Zimbabwe’s arrears clearance within the G20 Common Framework.
He said the African Development Bank Group will explore the possibility of mobilising additional resources for Zimbabwe’s arrears clearance within the framework of the 17th replenishment of the African Development Fund coming up towards the end of the year. This will form part of an agreed-upon process for clearing the bridge loan.
“Similarly, we encourage the World Bank’s International Development Association to do the same to clear arrears,” the Bank Group president said.
“To move the arrears clearance and debt resolution forward, the African Development Bank Group is financing the Global Sovereign Advisory and legal advisors, Kepler-Karst, to support the arrears clearance and debt resolution process, with clear timelines,” Adesina said.
Progress across three reform pillars
Chissano outlined other reforms that the Zimbabwe government undertook within the dialogue process framework, including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ceasing its quasi-fiscal operations, with all liabilities transferred to the treasury; the exchange rate system moving closer to market-determined rates; prudent fiscal policy and expenditure rationalisation being pursued; and the ongoing token payments to creditors.
Under the land tenure reform, Chissano and other speakers welcomed the ongoing compensation for former farm owners and the Farm Title Deed programme launched in December 2024. The programme provides for a 99-year lease agreement that is bankable and transferable.
Regarding governance reforms, the meeting heard that Zimbabwe had abolished the death penalty and that other significant reforms were underway to improve efficiency in the justice sector, enhance measures to fight corruption, and improve public sector transparency and accountability.
However, like other speakers, Chissano noted that challenges remain in civil society engagement, democratic elections, judicial processes, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression.
“These challenges show that dialogue is still needed for reforms to take root. They also show that political reforms are not a linear process,” he said, urging that these challenges “should mobilise us to redouble our efforts and re-energise the dialogue process.”
The government of Zimbabwe has proposed a plan to secure bridge financing of $2.6 billion to clear arrears to international financial institutions.
In his presentation, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube said the country’s economic outlook shows signs of recovery with expected growth of 6.0% in 2025. This is a remarkable improvement on last year’s 2.0% due to severe drought. The introduction of ZiG currency in April 2024 is helping to restore macroeconomic stability.
The arrears clearance roadmap aims to secure and implement a Staff Monitored Programme with the IMF in 2025, develop a credible strategy to close the fiscal financing gap, clear arrears with international financial institutions by early 2026, and complete comprehensive debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework.
The Southern African Development Community Executive Secretary, Elias M. Magosi, said Zimbabwe should be supported to bounce back, pointing to its strategic role in regional trade, integration, and development.
Back in Zimbabwe, the former president of the Commercial Farmers Union, Mr. Andrew J. Pascoe, confirmed receipt of payments made to former landowners, describing the development as “another momentous event.”
“Monday, 24 March 2025, saw the first US Dollar Cash payments due under this plan being paid to the signed-up Former Farm Owners (FFOs),” he said. “After almost 20 years, we, as Zimbabweans had been able to put aside our differences and, in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust, negotiated an agreement that laid the foundation for the payment of compensation for improvements on farms which the government of Zimbabwe had acquired under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme.”
“I would like, as a representative of these farmers, to sincerely thank His Excellency, President Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa and his government for standing by the commitment made by His Excellency in 2018 to pay compensation for acquired farms in line with the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” he said.
Nearly three years ago, President Emmerson Mnangagwa asked Dr Adesina to champion Zimbabwe’s arrears clearance and debt resolution process.
“I knew the job would be difficult,” Adesina recalled and expressed confidence, saying, “We will succeed in giving Zimbabwe and its people a full arrears clearance and debt resolution so that it can receive critical concessional financing needed to boost its growth and development further.”
“Now, we all should rally around it to conclude this process,” he added.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
Photos: https://apo-opa.co/3YeqlhQ
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Emeka Anuforo
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