The Mutapa Investment Fund, Zimbabwe’s state-owned vehicle overseeing more than 30 strategic public enterprises, is under renewed scrutiny amid concerns that it operates outside constitutional oversight and has evolved into “a state within a state,” according to former Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
The warning comes as debate intensifies over the governance, transparency and fiscal implications of the US$16 billion fund, which was moved under the Office of the President and Cabinet in 2023 and exempted from several public accountability requirements.
In a detailed critique of the 2026 national budget presented last week, Biti alleged that the Mutapa Fund had become “a parallel state” that falls outside the scope of constitutional public finance standards. He argued that Chapter 9 institutions and Section 298 of the Constitution, which mandate transparency, accountability and prudent use of public resources, were being undermined.
Biti cited the absence of publicly disclosed audited financial statements and limited parliamentary oversight as key governance gaps. He also referenced past transactions, including a 2023 payment of US$1.9 billion linked to the Kuvimba Mining House structure, as evidence of opaque financial flows.
"There is a creature called the Mutapa Fund. In the few years of its existence, billions have been syphoned out of it. The Mutapa Fund, contrary to the Constitution, has become a state within a state,” Biti said, adding that proposed legal amendments currently before Parliament exclude the Fund from statutory financial reporting obligations.
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His concerns echo those raised by the International Monetary Fund in its 2025 Article IV Report, which urged Zimbabwe to clarify Mutapa’s mandate, integrate its revenues into the national budget process, and institute stricter disclosure and oversight standards.
The IMF noted that the Fund’s current governance framework creates fiscal risks and weakens transparency around state-owned enterprises.
However, some economists have offered a contrasting view. Professor Gift Mugano described the Fund as a “game changer” following a two-hour meeting with MIF Chief Executive John Mangudya.
Mugano said the Fund has developed a five-year strategy, dubbed FIRE (Fix, Invigorate, Reinforce, Extract), aimed at improving financial performance, enhancing corporate governance across its entities, boosting SOE contribution to GDP, improving service delivery, and establishing a stabilisation fund.
According to Mugano, the Fund has categorised its 30 entities into cash cows, stars, dogs and question marks to tailor its turnaround strategies. He described his meeting as “transformative” and said he is now “a converted ambassador” of the MIF.
"As a person who had initially dismissed the MIF, I went into the meeting as a doubting Thomas but I came out of the meeting as a convinced & converted person. From today, I can speak and argue with facts on why the MIF is a game changer," Mugano stated.
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