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Zimbabwean fuel and mining tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei will administer only two Acts of Parliament in his new role as minister of economic development and investment promotion, after President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued statutory instruments dividing responsibilities in his economic team.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube keeps control of the main levers of economic policy under the instruments, which were reported on Nov. 13. Ncube retains the national budget, taxation and revenue collection through the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Treasury releases and spending controls, and public debt, including talks with creditors over the country's external arrears.
The instruments narrow the role Tagwirei, one of Mnangagwa's closest business allies, took on when the president split the old Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion on Oct. 8.
A brief without the purse
Tagwirei's ministry is responsible for attracting domestic, foreign and diaspora investors, removing administrative obstacles to investment, and promoting industrial projects in manufacturing, mining value addition, agriculture and tourism. Its brief also covers special economic zones, industrial parks and public-private partnerships in energy, transport and logistics.
Promoting a project does not give the ministry authority to commit public funds, and any tax incentives for investors must rest on tax law and go through the finance ministry's approval process. The 2027 national budget and projects tied to the National Development Strategy 2 will be the first test of how the two ministries work together.
The reallocation comes during a tense week around Tagwirei's growing influence. Batsi Java, a preacher and the brother of self-styled prophet Passion Java, was arrested in Harare on Nov. 12 over an audio recording claiming that Tagwirei had taken over the country's key institutions. He was later released, and police were ordered to investigate further.
Days earlier, the ruling ZANU-PF party said Tagwirei had made a $2.7 million revolving fund available for empowerment projects in Harare, a city the party has not won in more than two decades.
From fuel trader to minister
Tagwirei built his fortune through Sakunda Holdings, the fuel trading company he founded in 2005. Sakunda formed Trafigura Zimbabwe with the Swiss commodity trader in 2013 and became central to the country's fuel supply. Mining assets linked to the group were later folded into Kuvimba Mining House, which holds gold, platinum, nickel and lithium interests.
ZANU-PF co-opted him onto its central committee in October 2025, and Mnangagwa appointed him to the Senate this year before naming him to the cabinet. Some party commentators promote him as a possible successor to Mnangagwa.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tagwirei in 2020 and again in March 2024 under its Global Magnitsky corruption program, accusing him of using his ties to Mnangagwa to win state contracts. Britain sanctioned him in 2021. He has denied wrongdoing.
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