President Emmerson Mnangagwa has opened the fourth session of Zimbabwe’s 10th Parliament with an emphasis on maintaining macroeconomic stability, strengthening agricultural resilience and expanding domestic mineral processing.
Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament at the new Parliament Building in Mount Hampden on Tuesday, Mnangagwa said the government had consolidated gains in price, currency and exchange-rate stability, attributing the improvement to stronger foreign-currency inflows and measures to deepen the financial-sector institutional framework.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has independently reported relatively stable foreign-exchange conditions during 2026. Its June monetary policy statement said foreign-currency inflows had reached US$8.3 billion by the end of May, while the ZiG had traded within a relatively narrow range against the US dollar. More recent central-bank data put year-on-year ZiG inflation at 3.70 percent in September.
Mnangagwa also highlighted agriculture’s contribution to economic growth. Zimbabwe’s statistics agency, ZIMSTAT, reported that the economy expanded by 8.29 percent in 2025, with agriculture recording 27.9 percent growth. Agriculture contributed 11.1 percent of total output and was the fastest-growing major industry during the year.
The President nevertheless warned that the 2026/27 agricultural season could face below-normal rainfall across parts of the region. He outlined a six-pillar resilience programme centred on strategic grain reserves, climate-smart production, agricultural financing, livestock protection, early warning systems and institutional capacity.
Mining and mineral beneficiation featured prominently in the address. Mnangagwa pointed to the production of lithium sulphate as evidence of movement towards greater domestic processing. In April, Zimbabwe exported the first commercially produced lithium sulphate from the Arcadia operation near Harare, operated by a subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. Reuters reported that the US$400 million facility has an annual capacity of about 50,000 tonnes.
The development forms part of Zimbabwe’s broader attempt to retain more value from its mineral resources within the country. The government has also moved towards tighter controls on exports of unprocessed lithium, with a full ban on lithium concentrate exports scheduled for January 2027.
Mnangagwa said investment in gold, platinum and iron and steel processing would continue alongside infrastructure programmes, including road rehabilitation and prioritised railway development.
The opening of the parliamentary session therefore places economic stability, climate resilience, mineral beneficiation and infrastructure within the government’s legislative and development agenda. The effectiveness of these priorities will depend on implementation, financing and their capacity to translate headline economic improvements into broader productive activity and livelihoods.
