Zimbabwe’s wealthy businessmen are gaining greater influence over the country’s ruling party and political system, raising concerns that money and access to government are playing a growing role in determining who holds power.
According to Bloomberg, a group of politically connected entrepreneurs has built substantial fortunes through government contracts, mining interests and state-backed business opportunities under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Some have also moved into senior positions within the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front, giving them greater access to the country’s political leadership.
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Their influence has expanded as Mnangagwa’s government moves to change the country’s political system. In July, Mnangagwa signed constitutional amendments extending his presidency by two years to 2030 and removing the requirement for voters to elect his successor directly. Parliament will instead select the next president when his extended term ends.
The changes have drawn criticism from opposition groups, civil society organisations and some senior figures within Zanu PF. They have also raised concerns among international creditors, who have linked future financing for Zimbabwe to governance and political reforms.
Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, told Bloomberg the changes were the beginning of “a one-party state”. He warned that it could become “an authoritarian party state and an oligarchic party state.”
Zanu PF has defended the reforms, saying they will provide greater political stability and certainty for businesses.
Chris Mutsvangwa, the party’s information secretary, said the term extension would “stabilize the business environment” and create “a period of political and governance certainty.”
He dismissed suggestions that a small group of businessmen was driving the changes.
“The finger pointing at a few business figures is neither here nor there,” Mutsvangwa said.
But the growing role of wealthy entrepreneurs has become increasingly visible inside Zanu PF, Bloomberg reported.
Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a businessman under US and UK sanctions over alleged corruption, was appointed last year to the ruling party’s top decision-making body. Local media reports said he distributed hundreds of luxury vehicles to senior party officials during the process.
Wicknell Chivayo, whose businesses include solar power and logistics, has also distributed expensive vehicles to politicians, including opposition lawmakers who supported changes to the presidential election system.
Scott Sakupwanya, a metals trader and Zanu PF lawmaker, has built influence through the gold trade and was featured in an Al Jazeera investigation into alleged gold smuggling.
The businessmen have rejected corruption allegations and described them as politically motivated. Bloomberg said multiple attempts to reach Tagwirei, Chivayo and Sakupwanya for comment were unsuccessful.
Trevor Ncube, a Zimbabwean newspaper owner who has been critical of the government, said the businessmen were building relationships that could protect their influence even if Zimbabwe’s political leadership changes.
“They are making sure they have access” to the president, Ncube said. “Should anything happen, they will be part of the next administration or can influence it.”
The scale of their wealth and political connections was on public display in May, when Zimbabwe’s political and business elite gathered at a polo club outside Harare for the wedding of Tagwirei’s son, Bloomberg reported.
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Tagwirei reportedly gave the couple $17.5 million in cash and land. Government ministers, politically connected businessmen and Mnangagwa’s sons were among those who gave luxury cars, rare cattle and large sums of money.
Mnangagwa delivered a speech at the event, while US R&B group Boyz II Men performed at the reception.
The lavish celebration offered an unusual public glimpse of the close relationship between Zimbabwe’s political leadership and its emerging business elite.
The growing influence of the businessmen has also exposed divisions within Zanu PF.
Constantino Chiwenga, Mnangagwa’s vice president and a former army commander who played a central role in the 2017 military intervention that removed Robert Mugabe, has criticised the businessmen surrounding the president.
Chiwenga accused Tagwirei of buying his way into the ruling party and warned of “bloodshed” if the presidential term extension went ahead.
He has also described the group of businessmen as “Zvigananda”, a Shona term associated with blood-engorged ticks, accusing them of abandoning the values of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
“There is tension in the country,” Ncube said. Referring to Chiwenga, he added that the vice president “has got a loyal group of military people, retired commanders, who are saying this is not what we fought for.”
The dispute has raised concerns about another power struggle inside the ruling party.
The International Crisis Group warned in a June report that a coup was one possible outcome, saying Chiwenga could eventually see such a move as the only way to secure the political position he believes he is owed.
Chiwenga led the 2017 coup that brought Mnangagwa to power.
But his opposition to the new business elite could make it difficult for him to build political support, according to Chipo Dendere, an assistant professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College.
“The vice president has openly spoken against corruption and oligarchs,” Dendere said, “but since these types hold the party purse, I don’t see how he can have a political career without their support.”
The struggle has similarities with the final years of Mugabe’s rule, when a group of businessmen gained increasing influence around the former president and his wife, Grace Mugabe.Mnangagwa was removed as vice president in November 2017 after falling out with Mugabe. The military intervened days later, ending Mugabe’s 37-year rule.
Mnangagwa came to power promising to revive Zimbabwe’s economy, improve governance and restore relations with the international community.
Nine years later, those ambitions remain largely unfulfilled.
Zimbabwe has benefited from higher gold and platinum prices, rising lithium production and strong tobacco output. But the country remains in default to international lenders and has been in arrears for 26 years, Bloomberg reported.
About a quarter of Zimbabwe’s population has also left the country.
The World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and Paris Club remain unable to provide new financing while Zimbabwe’s outstanding debts remain unresolved. Political and governance reforms are also part of the country’s discussions with international creditors.
Zaynab Hoosen, a senior Africa analyst at intelligence advisory firm Pangea Risk, told Bloomberg that the constitutional changes could make Zimbabwe’s economic recovery more difficult by further damaging relations with creditors.
“Political and governance reforms are an explicit part of Zimbabwe’s dialogue with creditors,” Hoosen said.
For ordinary Zimbabweans, the growing relationship between wealth and political influence comes as the country continues to struggle with economic pressures and a long history of disputed elections.
Since 2000, Zimbabwe’s elections have repeatedly been accompanied by allegations of voter intimidation and fraud.
The latest constitutional changes have now created a new concern over whether voters will have a meaningful role in choosing the country’s next president.
“It was never like this in the past,” said Tinei, a construction worker in Harare who asked that his surname not be used. “But maybe times are changing very fast. I guess it pays to be in politics.”
Faith Omoboye is a foreign affairs correspondent with background in History and International relations. Her work focuses on African politics, diplomacy, and global governance.
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