Break free from the chains of debt arrears

Zimbabwe’s debt story is no longer just a statistic, it is a stranglehold on the nation’s future.

With over US$21.5bn in public debt, nearly half the size of the economy, the country is trapped in a vicious cycle: locked out of concessional financing, unable to attract meaningful foreign investment, and forced to divert scarce revenues away from health, education, and infrastructure.

The result is an economy gasping for air, suffocated by arrears and haunted by broken promises of reform.

Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube’s latest proposal to mortgage mineral wealth as collateral for arrears clearance is both bold and desperate.

Zimbabwe does sit on enviable reserves—platinum, lithium, gold—resources that could transform the economy in the era of green energy and industrial renewal.

, However, too often, resource-backed deals have become opaque, riddled with corruption, and have mortgaged tomorrow for today’s survival.

Without transparency, credible oversight, and iron-clad governance reforms, Zimbabwe risks exchanging one form of bondage for another.

The truth is inescapable, the debt crisis is not just about numbers, it is about trust. International lenders and investors remain skeptical not because Zimbabwe lacks resources, but because it has repeatedly failed to honor its commitments.

The 2015 Lima Strategy, once hailed as a breakthrough, collapsed under the weight of policy inconsistency. The more recent African Development Bank-led US$2.6bn bridge financing plan stalled not for lack of goodwill, but for lack of reforms that inspire confidence.

Zimbabwe cannot afford another half-measure.

Resolving the debt crisis requires more than pledging platinum or lithium—it requires confronting the very weaknesses that created the problem: fiscal indiscipline, quasi-fiscal excesses, policy flip-flops, and a deficit of transparency. It requires courage to cut expenditure, rein in central bank adventures, and prioritize accountability over patronage.

The country stands at a crossroads. Clearing arrears would reopen access to concessional financing, unlock investment, and allow Zimbabwe to rejoin the community of nations as a credible partner. Failure would mean more isolation, more lost opportunities, and another decade of stagnation.