Zimbabwe shock as finance minister named Africa’s best

Many Zimbabweans have reacted with astonishment after Mthuli Ncube was named “Best African Finance Minister of the Year” despite the country’s economic turmoil.

One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, said the award was “akin to applauding a captain for steering a ship straight into an iceberg”.

Another user called it “the greatest joke of the decade”.

Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is as high as 85%, economists say.

Up to 80% of transactions are carried out in US dollars because of a lack of confidence in the local currency, according to the Reuters news agency.

Reputation Poll International – an organisation that says it “manages reputations” – gave Mr Ncube the award on Sunday.

The minister, who was appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2018, told the state-controlled Herald newspaper that he was delighted to receive the honour.

He said it was recognition of the work he and the Treasury team had done that has “spearheaded the transformation of the economy”.

However, activist Hopewell Chin’ono said on X that the award was an “insult” to Zimbabweans.

Source:BBC