Categories: Stories

US removes Zimre Holdings from sanctions list

The United States government today removed Zimre Holdings from its sanctions list nine years after the company was added to the list together with several other parastatal companies because President “Robert Mugabe, his senior officials, and regime cronies (were using) these entities to illegally siphon revenue and foreign exchange from the Zimbabwean people”.

Zimre Holdings was one of the 17 entities that were added to the list on 25 July 2008 soon after President Robert Mugabe had bulldozed his way into office.

Mugabe had been beaten by Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai in March 2008 but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said Tsvangirai had not won enough votes for an outright victory.

The Commission ordered a run-off from which Tsvangirai pulled out because of violence that had engulfed the country.

The United States imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe more than 15 years ago but has been removing individuals and companies over the past few years unlike the European United which lifted sanctions on all individuals and companies except Mugabe and his wife Grace and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

Outgoing US Secretary for the Treasury, Jack Lew, warned Washington against the overuse of sanctions saying it runs the risk of lessening their impact.

(95 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Who propped whom: Masiyiwa vs Nyambirai?

A friend who knows about my legal battle with Zimbabwe’s richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, way…

May 1, 2026

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwean Constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to decide

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwe constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to…

March 24, 2026

Who started the war?

It is now 47 years since I wrote the short story below for a South…

March 4, 2026

Zimbabwe 2026 monetary policy statement at a glance

Zimbabwe has released its 2026 monetary policy statement in which it seeks to stabilise its…

March 1, 2026

Was Chombo Mugabe’s number two?

Far from it, on paper that is. Ignatius Chombo was one of the longest serving…

February 6, 2026

Zimbabwe’s 2026 citizen’s budget

Zimbabwe on Thursday announced a ZiG290.9 billion budget with revenue expected to be ZiG287.6 billion,…

November 30, 2025