Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has called for sustainability to be embedded across Zimbabwe’s financial system.
Minister Ncube said the country must move beyond policy commitments and channel capital towards productive investments that create jobs, generate exports and support long-term economic growth.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Ministry’s Director of Financial Sector Policy, Mrs Judith Ncube, at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Financial Sector Sustainability Summit in Harare yesterday, Minister Ncube said sustainability should become a central feature of how Zimbabwe mobilises savings, manages risk, allocates capital and finances economic transformation.
“The capital exists, the opportunities exist and the institutions exist. Our task is to connect all these more effectively,” he said.
He said the two-day summit, which brings together the Government, the central bank, financial institutions, regulators, industry, investors and other stakeholders, should result in practical mechanisms for converting Zimbabwe’s economic opportunities into bankable projects and productive businesses.
“Let us move from potential to projects, from projects to investment, from investment to productive businesses and from productive businesses to jobs, exports and sustainable economic growth and development,” he said.
Professor Ncube said Zimbabwe was approaching the sustainability agenda from an increasingly favourable macroeconomic position, with the economy having grown by 8,3 percent in 2025, while the Government was projecting growth of about 5 percent this year.
He said the 2026 projected growth was supported by improved electricity availability, favourable agricultural conditions, elevated mineral commodity prices and continued investment in the productive sector.
Prof Ncube said strong economic activity recorded during the first quarter of 2026, particularly in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, demonstrated the resilience of the economy and the opportunities emerging across key sectors.
“These are not mere statistics; they are signals of confidence,” he said.
However, Professor Ncube cautioned against treating macroeconomic stability as an end in itself, saying it must translate into higher investment, increased production and improved household incomes.
“Durable or sustainable stability is the foundation. Transformation is the objective, while sustainable prosperity for all Zimbabweans is the ultimate desired outcome,” he said.
He said the Government remained committed to fiscal discipline and close coordination between fiscal and monetary policy to preserve price, currency and exchange-rate stability.
Minister Ncube identified agriculture and agro-processing, mining and mineral beneficiation, tourism, manufacturing, renewable energy, infrastructure, housing, logistics, information and communications technology, healthcare, education and emerging technology-driven industries as key areas where capital could support sustainable economic growth.
He said the financial sector had a critical role to play because every lending and investment decision carried wider economic consequences.
“When capital finances climate-smart agriculture through education, mechanisation and artificial intelligence-based technology such as drones, amongst others, it supports higher agricultural activity and productivity,” Minister Ncube said.
He said the banking sector was already positioned to play a greater role in financing the next phase of Zimbabwe’s economic transformation.
Aggregate banking sector loans and advances stood at about US$3 billion equivalent, with approximately 75 percent of lending being channelled towards productive sectors, he said.
Addressing the same gathering, RBZ Governor Dr John Mushayavanhu said the central bank’s attainment of Level Five certification under the Sustainability Standards Certification Initiative (SSCI) should mark the beginning, rather than the conclusion, of its sustainability journey.
He said the RBZ was now moving from certification to implementation, with sustainability expected to be reflected in institutional governance, budgets, risk management, resource allocation and measurable outcomes.
“Sustainability should ultimately strengthen monetary and financial stability by improving the capacity of financial institutions to transmit monetary policy into the real economy.
“If the financial institutions are weak, the monetary policy will die there,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by RBZ Deputy Governor Dr Jesimen Chipika.
Dr Mushayavanhu said stronger financial institutions were necessary to ensure that monetary policy effectively reached businesses and households.
The RBZ received its SSCI Level Five certification, the highest level, at the Global Sustainable Finance Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 27, 2026.
Dr Mushayavanhu said sustainability did not require the central bank to assume mandates belonging to other institutions, but demanded “a deeper understanding of the transmission channels, stronger internal capabilities and more effective collaboration” with institutions whose decisions shape monetary conditions.
“It requires us to better understand and respond to the economic, financial, technological, environmental and institutional conditions that increasingly influence price stability, exchange rate stability and financial stability,” he said.
Dr Mushayavanhu said the RBZ had not created a separate sustainability agenda, but had instead “strengthened the institution through which our existing mandate is delivered”.
He identified several structural factors that were amplifying the challenges facing monetary and fiscal policymakers, including exchange-rate pressures in the financial system, weak productive capacity, energy constraints, low agricultural productivity, infrastructure gaps, import dependence and technological limitations.
The RBZ Governor said the central bank’s ambition should therefore extend beyond repeatedly managing symptoms towards strengthening the institutional and financial-system capabilities required to support lasting stability.
This, he said, required the conviction to look beyond immediate problems, the willingness to confront underlying causes and the determination to build the capabilities needed to achieve durable monetary and financial stability.
The RBZ said the summit, which started yesterday and ends today, was being held in partnership with the European Organisation for Sustainable Development (EOSD).-=herald
