The recent decision by the United States government to repeal its 24-year-old illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe has come as a surprise to many in Harare, with citizens and analysts, while welcoming the move, being sceptical about Washington’s sincerity.

A new bill introduced in the US Congress on September 11 proposes a repeal of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA), introduced in 2001 and amended in 2018, the legal basis for Washington’s punitive measures on Harare.

The proposed legislation, known as the “Department of State Policy Provisions Act”, introduced by Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, seeks to make broad changes to US foreign policy, from how its citizens engage hostile foreign entities to stepping up its economic interests in Africa. Mast says his omnibus Bill “prevents ideologues masquerading as diplomats from using their posts to push left-wing agendas instead of America’s interests.”

Included in this Bill is a proposal to drop ZDERA, the George Bush-era piece of legislation through which the US unilaterally imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, citing alleged human rights violations in the aftermath of the government of Zimbabwe’s move to address colonial-era land ownership imbalances by seizing vast tracks of farmland from white commercial farmers of European stock.

Through ZDERA, the US blocked loans, debt relief, or financial assistance to Zimbabwe from international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, effectively locking the country out of the critical global financial system.

While ZDERA would be dropped under the Bill, US cooperation with Zimbabwe would, however, hinge on the condition that Zimbabwe fully pays off the white former farmers.

“The United States shall not support any new or expanded funding from the International Monetary Fund or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (commonly known as the World Bank) for the Government of Zimbabwe unless the Government of Zimbabwe shall commit, within 12 months of the approval of such new or expanded funding, to remit all outstanding arrears owed under the Global Compensation Deed, inflation adjusted to the date of enactment, and compensation shall not be in the form of Zimbabwe issued securities,” the Bill reads.

“Failure to comply with this provision shall result in an immediate cessation of all United States support for any further funding from these institutions.”

‘We want unconditional lifting of sanctions’

While the move by Washington is largely welcomed as a positive development that could unlock Zimbabwe’s full economic potential, it is the condition attached to the removal of these illegal sanctions that has infuriated anti-sanctions activists in this southern African country.

For over six years, a group of Zimbabweans under the banner of the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions (BAAS) has been camped outside the new imposing $300 million US embassy day and night, demanding the unconditional lifting of all sanctions on their country.

For Calvin Chitsunge, the group’s co-founder and chairperson, the move falls short of their expectation.

“We went to camp outside the US embassy in Harare because we want to see a sanctions-free Zimbabwe and that sanctions-free Zimbabwe comes through such moves like the repealing of ZDERA, which we welcome,” Chitsunge told Al Mayadeen English.

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“However, we don’t agree with the conditions attached to the repealing of ZDERA, the condition that former farmers who were occupying our land must be compensated. As an organisation, we don’t agree to that. Our main objective as BAAS is the unconditional lifting of sanctions. The land that they are referring to belongs to Zimbabwe. It has to be very clear to Americans that Zimbabwean land never belongs to them; those who occupied it before cannot claim ownership of this land and therefore compensation from us.”

Sally Ngoni, BAAS co-founder and spokesperson, added that they find it strange that, despite Zimbabwe having already started taking steps to pay $3.5 billion compensation to the white former farmers for improvements on the repossessed farmland, even including it in the country’s Constitution, the US was still making this payment a condition to lift its illegal sanctions.

“Welcome the Bill that they have come up with to repeal ZDERA, however, we are seeing that this move is coming with a lot of demands that are political and economic in nature and as an organization we still demand that if they are to repeal ZDERA they should do so without any conditions attached to it,” Ngoni told Al Mayadeen English. “We have already put it in our constitution that we are going to pay all the white settlers that had colonized Zimbabwe for the structures that they imposed on the land that they stole from our ancestors and our President is a constitutionalist, he said he will honour the promise, so it should not be put as a condition by the US Federal government for the removal of the illegal sanctions.” 

Shift toward Magnitsky sanctions

In March 2024, former US President Joe Biden reduced the scope of the sanctions through an executive order removing 120 individuals and entities from the sanctions list. However, Biden shifted to the Global Magnitsky Act – which allows for sanctions to be imposed on individuals linked to corruption and human rights violations – to impose sanctions on President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 13 members of his inner circle. Ngoni says these, together with ZDERA, must be removed unconditionally.

“If they are going to remove ZDERA and still maintain the Magnitsky sanctions, the nation of Zimbabwe would still be under sanctions because you can’t say you have removed ZDERA against Zimbabwe but still maintain that the leaders of the nation and those who have been bursting the sanctions remain under sanctions. So we welcome it, but say they should also remove Magnitsky.”

Themba Ndebele, the chairperson of the Movement Against ZimSanctions (MAZ), also told Al Mayadeen English that the US should not be imposing any conditions to remove its illegal sanctions.

“Our position is clear and solid,” Ndebele said. “We are calling for the total removal of all forms of sanctions on Zimbabwe unconditionally. ZDERA must fall without conditions attached to it. Magnitsky sanctions must fall without conditions attached to it!"

“It boggles one’s mind to imagine how and where does the oppressor gets the guts to demand compensation from the oppressed. To start with, Zimbabwe hasn’t received even a single cent from all the injustices perpetrated on our forefathers for colonialism, racism and slavery.”

A strategic bargain?

The timing of the moves toward the lifting of the illegal sanctions has also raised eyebrows, coming as Zimbabwe, a country rich in critical minerals, has moved closer to China, with President Mnangagwa recently being one of the only two African leaders who were invited to China’s celebrations to mark the 80^th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the Second World War.

Blessing Kanyemba, an analyst with Equity Axis, a financial media and research firm focused on Zimbabwe and Africa, told Al Mayadeen English that he sees the overtures by Washington towards Harare as a strategic bargain.

“The United States’ evolving approach to sanctions on Zimbabwe and other African nations reflects a strategic shift from rigid demands for reform to a more pragmatic engagement that benefits American interests,” Kanyemba explained.

“Initially, the US adopted a hard-line stance, rooted in promoting human rights, democracy, and anti-corruption measures. But now, why just cast a deaf ear and blind eye?"

“This pivot benefits the US in multiple ways. Economically, easing sanctions unlocks Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth, lithium, platinum, and diamonds, critical for US clean energy and tech supply chains. With Zimbabwe’s $21.5 billion total debt and $1.8 billion annual corruption losses stifling growth, US support for international financing could spur investment opportunities for American firms, at the expense of China.”

Kanyemba pointed out that Zimbabwe’s April 2025 tariff suspension on US goods, responding to Donald Trump’s reciprocal levies, further signals openness, potentially boosting US exports in agriculture and machinery. He said that across Africa, US trade reached $100 billion in 2024, and it could double by 2030 with reduced barriers, creating jobs in US export hubs.

“Geopolitically, this counters China’s dominance. Beijing controls 70% of Zimbabwe’s mining investments and secures US access to critical minerals, reducing reliance on adversarial supply chains. US re-engagement could reshape global supply chains, tilting influence away from China’s debt-trap diplomacy,” he said, adding that the US applies similar pragmatism elsewhere in Africa, balancing pressure with opportunity.

“In Sudan, broad sanctions since 1997 for terrorism and human rights abuses gave way to 2024 partial de-listings for non-coup actors, stabilising the Horn of Africa and countering Russian influence along Red Sea trade routes worth over $50 billion annually to the US. It’s the same for South Africa, the DRC, Ethiopia. In each case, the US starts with a “reforms first” stance but adapts when isolation risks losing ground to rivals.”