Public Statement

15 May 2026

The Swedish Embassy accredited to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mauritius wishes to inform the public that the Swedish Government has taken a decision that Swedish bilateral development cooperation with Zimbabwe will be phased out and the Embassy of Sweden in Harare will be closed by the end of October.

August 31 will be the last day that the embassy office in Harare is open to visitors.

This decision has not been taken lightly and is a consequence of reduced funding in our overall budget for development cooperation. Other countries that are being affected in Africa are Liberia, Mozambique and Tanzania.The phase out of the bilateral development support is being done in a responsible and orderly way and operations will be terminated by the end of August 2026.

However, the global support to Zimbabwe through multilateral organizations and the EU will not be affected. The decision to phase out bilateral support is not in any way linked to policies or events in Zimbabwe. The Swedish Government will make every effort to preserve the excellent relations between our two countries despite the changing circumstances. We will seek to strengthen and broaden the partnership between Zimbabwe and Sweden beyond development cooperation, not least through enhanced trade and business relations.

Zimbabwe remains an important partner for Sweden. Our historic relations are strong and marked by strong people-to-people ties. This provides a solid foundation for continued good relations between our two countries.