A New Table:
Zimbabwe Begins Formal Talks
to Join the BRICS Bank
For 25 years Zimbabwe sat outside the rooms where development money is decided. This week, a new room opened — and we were formally invited to walk in.
On Saturday, May 16, 2026, Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube made an announcement that deserves to be read slowly. Zimbabwe has officially begun formal accession negotiations to become a member of the New Development Bank (NDB) — the multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations in 2015.
This is not a press release about a meeting that might happen. This is the formal commencement of a legal membership process. The NDB’s Board of Directors passed a resolution authorising Zimbabwe to begin accession talks, and NDB President Dilma Rousseff personally wrote to Minister Ncube to confirm it and outline the next steps. That is a significant level of institutional formality. It means Zimbabwe is now on a defined pathway — a proper table, with a chair, and a nameplate.
In 2015, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — the five BRICS economies — were frustrated with the World Bank and the IMF. Those institutions had been dominated by Western countries since the 1940s and often came with political conditions attached to their loans. So the BRICS nations started their own development bank, headquartered in Shanghai. They each put in money, agreed to fund infrastructure projects in member countries, and opened the door to other emerging economies joining over time. That bank is the NDB — the New Development Bank. Zimbabwe applied to join in 2023. And this week, the formal negotiations finally began.
Who Is Already in the Club
Before we talk about what this means for Zimbabwe, it is worth understanding exactly who is at this table — because it tells you a lot about the kind of development bank the NDB has become.
Look at that list. Egypt, Algeria, the UAE, Bangladesh — these are not small or marginal economies. The NDB has expanded deliberately and thoughtfully into the Global South. Zimbabwe joining would make it the first Southern African country in accession talks other than founding member South Africa. That is a meaningful regional signal.
The Journey: From Application to Accession
This did not happen suddenly. Like last week’s ZACDEP journal showed us about the debt arrears process, this too has been a deliberate, years-long build. Understanding the sequence helps you see the momentum that is actually underway.
Prof. Ncube publicly signals Zimbabwe’s interest in the NDB during an interview with CGTN Africa in London. He says: “We have made contact with the management; we have made contact with the current shareholders.” The intent is clear but formal application has not yet been filed.
President Mnangagwa officially announces that Zimbabwe has applied to join the NDB. This puts Zimbabwe on the formal membership consideration list alongside other prospective members including Honduras and Serbia.
Colombia and Uzbekistan formally accede to NDB membership, bringing total membership to 11. Zimbabwe’s application is under active consideration. The Bank’s total approvals reach $39 billion. The track record is now very real and very substantial.
2026
The IMF approves a 10-month Staff-Monitored Programme for Zimbabwe — a credibility signal to all multilateral institutions, including the NDB, that Zimbabwe’s macroeconomic management meets international standards of discipline and transparency.
2026
NDB Board of Directors passes resolution authorising formal accession negotiations. Dilma Rousseff writes to Ncube personally. Zimbabwe is now officially in the accession process with defined next steps toward full membership.
+
If negotiations proceed successfully — and the formal commencement is the most significant indicator that they will — Zimbabwe becomes a full NDB member and can begin accessing project financing. The average NDB project approval is $271 million.
What the NDB Actually Funds — And What Zimbabwe Needs
The NDB is not a general budget support lender. It has a specific and highly relevant mandate: infrastructure and sustainable development. Let us look at what it funds and hold it against Zimbabwe’s most urgent national needs.
Transport is the NDB’s biggest sector — $13.1 billion across 38 approved projects. South Africa received a ZAR 7 billion (~$385M) SANRAL loan in 2025 for national road rehabilitation.
Clean energy and energy efficiency projects total $2.9 billion in NDB approvals. Kariba rehabilitation, solar expansion, and Hwange Phase 9 could all be bankable NDB projects.
$2.4 billion approved. South Africa’s bulk water schemes provide a direct template for Zimbabwe’s crumbling ZINWA infrastructure and urban water networks in Bulawayo and Harare.
NDB approved the Limpopo Academic Hospital Project in SA in late 2025. Parirenyatwa and Mpilo are overdue for capital investment at a scale that domestic budgets cannot provide.
NDB has funded broadband and digital infrastructure in South Africa. Zimbabwe’s digital infrastructure gap — fibre, data centres, rural connectivity — fits this mandate precisely.
$3.8 billion in multi-area projects. The NDB explicitly prioritises climate-smart and green recovery financing — aligned with Zimbabwe’s UNFCCC commitments and Vision 2030.
Based on the NDB’s average project size of $271 million, a realistic first project for Zimbabwe might be a $200–300 million road rehabilitation and expansion loan. For context: that is roughly the cost of building and paving 400–600 kilometres of national highway. Or expanding Hwange Power Station’s capacity significantly. Or building a new regional hospital. These are not hypothetical — they are exactly the kinds of projects NDB funds for its members every year.
The NDB vs the World Bank — Why Both Matter
Some people ask: is the NDB instead of the World Bank, or in addition to it? The answer is clearly in addition — and understanding the differences explains why Zimbabwe needs access to both.
| Feature | World Bank / IDA | NDB |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1944 (Bretton Woods) | 2015 (BRICS) |
| Governance | Western-dominated voting weight | Equal BRICS founding vote |
| Policy Conditions | Often attached to loans | Fewer conditionalities |
| Currency Flexibility | Mainly USD | 30% local currency target by 2026 |
| Focus | Broad development & social | Infrastructure & sustainable dev |
| Arrears Required? | Yes — Zimbabwe currently blocked | Separate process — possible parallel track |
| Average Loan Size | $100M – $500M+ | $271M average |
| Credit Rating | AAA | AA+ (S&P and Fitch) |
The crucial row in that table is arrears. The World Bank will not lend to Zimbabwe until the arrears clearance process (ZACDEP — covered in Entry 21) is complete. The NDB has its own separate membership and lending criteria. It is entirely possible — though not certain and subject to negotiation — that Zimbabwe could access NDB financing while still working through the World Bank arrears process. That would be genuinely transformative.
“Membership in the New Development Bank is expected to strengthen Zimbabwe’s capacity to mobilise long-term development financing for key national priorities in line with the country’s vision to become an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.”
— Prof. Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance, May 2026Minister Ncube used a phrase worth pausing on: “South to South win-win cooperation.” This is more than diplomatic language. It describes a different philosophy of development finance. When the World Bank was built in 1944, it reflected a world where rich countries lent to poor ones. The NDB is built on a different premise: that emerging economies have much to offer each other — expertise, technology, financing models, and solidarity — without the asymmetry of the old order.
Brazil built the NDB partly because its development bank, BNDES, had decades of experience financing infrastructure domestically. India brought expertise in large-scale digital infrastructure. China brought construction and industrial capacity. South Africa brought African financial market experience. When Zimbabwe joins, it brings its own thing: the world’s largest platinum reserves, a young and growing workforce, agricultural potential, and a genuinely strategic location in Southern Africa’s logistics corridor.
This is not charity. This is mutual economic interest — the kind that tends to produce financing that is more durable, more respectful, and more aligned with what the borrowing country actually needs to develop.
The People Behind This Milestone
The architect of Zimbabwe’s re-engagement strategy and the minister who received Rousseff’s letter authorising accession. His statement described the development as “a major milestone reflecting growing international confidence in Zimbabwe’s economic reform program.”
Former President of Brazil (2011–2016) and NDB President since March 2023. She personally wrote to Zimbabwe confirming the accession process commencement. Under her leadership the NDB has expanded to 11 members and consistently emphasised it is a bank “from the Global South, for the Global South.”
Personally announced Zimbabwe’s NDB application in 2023 and has repeatedly described NDB membership as central to his re-engagement agenda — securing infrastructure finance from emerging economies as a complement to re-engagement with Western institutions.
Passed the formal resolution authorising Zimbabwe’s accession negotiations — the institutional decision that turned a years-long application into a live legal process. Each founding member has a vote, meaning Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa all agreed.
The Week That Was: ZACDEP + NDB in Seven Days
Tete Getty readers will note that this is the second economic journal in three days covering a major Zimbabwe financial re-engagement development. Entry 21 covered the AfDB’s $4 million ZACDEP grant for debt arrears clearance. Entry 22 covers the NDB accession announcement. These are not coincidences. They are part of a coordinated, deliberate sequence.
The IMF SMP in April. The AfDB ZACDEP grant. The NDB accession talks. Three different multilateral institutions. Three different processes. All in six weeks. The message to international creditors and investors is clear and consistent: Zimbabwe is doing the work, across every front, simultaneously. That kind of coordinated reform signalling is precisely what moves investor confidence — and sovereign credit ratings — over time.
What to Watch For
Negotiations Content
Accession negotiations involve agreeing on Zimbabwe’s capital subscription (how much Zimbabwe pays into the bank), voting rights, lending eligibility, and governance participation. Watch for any NDB press release that describes Zimbabwe’s capital commitment — that will be the first concrete number we can attach to membership.
First Project Identification
Even before formal accession is complete, NDB members typically begin identifying potential projects. Watch for any announcement from the Ministry of Finance or Ministry of Infrastructure about NDB project pipeline discussions — energy, transport, and water sectors are most likely.
Arrears Interplay
The key strategic question is whether NDB membership and first loans can proceed independently of the World Bank arrears clearance process. Watch how NDB phrases Zimbabwe’s eligibility for project financing in any formal statements — this will clarify the sequencing.
South Africa’s Role
South Africa is a founding BRICS member and NDB shareholder. Its endorsement of Zimbabwe’s membership carries weight in the NDB Board. Watch for any joint Zimbabwean-South African statements on this process — SADC solidarity has real institutional consequence at the NDB table.
For a generation, Zimbabwe sat outside the rooms where development money was decided. Not because the country lacked projects worth funding, or a population that needed infrastructure, or a government willing to engage. But because the combination of political isolation and debt arrears kept the doors shut. Those doors are opening — one by one, in a sequence that is not accidental. The BRICS Bank is a new room. A different kind of room: one built by countries that know what it means to be on the outside, and decided to build the table themselves. Zimbabwe is walking in. That is not a small thing. It is, in fact, exactly what the Second Great Zimbabwe looks like in practice.
Leave a Reply