Zimbabwe has formally secured admission as a borrowing member of the Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) and is preparing to submit its instruments for full BRICS membership in Brazil, The Herald reported. Zimbabwe's Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira told the Senate that the country is leveraging its NDB entry to seek full membership in the bloc.
Economic analysts cited by the publication stated that China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and South Africa represent Zimbabwe's primary export destinations and import hubs. The three BRICS member states dominate Zimbabwe's external trade, together accounting for nearly 90 percent of the country's total export earnings and a large portion of its imports. Analysts said full BRICS membership translates bilateral dependencies into a multilateral economic architecture.
Admission to the NDB will unlock long-term development financing without the strict conditionalities and political hurdles associated with traditional Western lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, according to economic analysts cited by the newspaper. The new capital is earmarked for projects including power generation, transmission grid upgrades, roads, rail networks, border post modernisations, and domestic mineral and agricultural processing, including local lithium processing.
According to the report, the credit lines will become operational once Zimbabwe's Parliament ratifies the agreement and the government satisfies its capital subscription requirements.
Sources
- Herald.co.zw · 2026-11-10
