Mthuli Ncube

Mthuli Ncube is Zimbabwe's Finance Minister, a post he has held since 2018 and in which he is also referred to as Professor Ncube. He oversees the country's national budget, fiscal policy and debt negotiations, including efforts to resolve Zimbabwe's longstanding external arrears, estimated at about $21-billion, with creditors such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank. Ncube has sought bridge financing from several wealthy nations to help clear these arrears and unlock fresh multilateral lending. He has been central to managing Zimbabwe's commodity-dependent economy, reporting growth revisions driven by tobacco harvests and gold price rallies, and has championed the gold-backed Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency introduced to stabilise the country's monetary system. He presents Zimbabwe's annual national budget, through which he has proposed and adjusted mining royalty rates, including a contested gold royalty hike later scaled back after industry pressure from major producers such as Caledonia Mining Corporation. Ncube has also pushed policies compelling lithium miners, dominated by Chinese firms, to process minerals locally ahead of a planned ban on lithium concentrate exports from January 2027. He has engaged with China on resource-backed financing arrangements to fund Zimbabwe's road and rail infrastructure, and has promoted agreements, such as a petroleum production sharing agreement with Invictus Energy, aimed at unlocking the country's natural resources. His tenure has been marked by efforts to balance revenue generation from Zimbabwe's mineral wealth with the need to attract and retain foreign mining investment.