Zimbabwe's newly-inaugurated President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday named respected economist Mthuli Ncube as finance minister to revive the country's battered economy in the first cabinet since his election in a disputed vote.
Ncube, an Oxford University professor who is a former vice president of the African Development Bank, has the tough task of reviving an economy wrecked under Robert Mugabe, who was ousted last year. The country is battling an economic crisis that includes cash shortages, rising prices of basic commodities, mass unemployment, lack of investment and a shattered infrastructure.
Mnangagwa, who has vowed fixing the economy as his priority, announced sweeping changes to his cabinet after his victory in the July 30 election. "We want to grow, modernise, mechanise our economy," he said. "In the next five years, we should uplift quite a number of our people who are in the marginalised category, (and) uplift them into middle class." Mnangagwa's line up has widely been welcomed by crises-weary Zimbabweans. "Those are good choices," said John Robertson, an independent economist.