US companies may reconsider their stance on Zimbabwe following the adoption of a new sanctions program that puts only three companies and the country's top leaders under restrictions, including Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“This is an opportunity for companies to rethink their de-risking models and look at the Zimbabwean market,” David Gaynor, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State's Africa Bureau, said in an online briefing Thursday. U.S. policy toward Zimbabwe has not changed, only “the sanctions tools” used have changed, Gaynor added.
Read: US eases sanctions on Zimbabwe for first time in 21 years
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Mr Mnangagwa joins a long list of other prominent figures who have joined the so-called Global Magnitsky Program, including former Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos and South Africa's three Gupta brothers. The plan would allow the United States to target foreign officials involved in suspected corruption or human rights abuses.
Zimbabwe's government late Wednesday condemned the latest sanctions program targeting the country's leaders as an escalation of hostilities. Speaking publicly for the first time on Thursday after the US government's March 4 announcement, Mnangagwa said the southern African country would accept nothing less than a complete lifting of sanctions.
Read: US sanctions Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa over human rights issues
“The sanctions are illegal,” Mnangagwa said. “All sanctions must be completely lifted.”
The United States also announced it would suspend its involvement in Zimbabwe's $18 billion debt restructuring negotiations, citing a “lack of progress” in the democratic process, Gaynor said. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said negotiations would continue despite the US withdrawal.
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