By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Barbara Rwodzi, Zimbabwe’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister has been nominated for the prestigious Unstoppable Cabinet Minister of the Year 2026 Award, following a standout year in which she was named Zimbabwe’s overall best-performing Cabinet Minister of 2025.
The Unstoppable African Awards recognise Cabinet Ministers whose bold administrative reforms, transparent policy implementation and high-impact development initiatives are delivering transformative results for their nations and communities.
Minister Rwodzi‘s nomination is backed by a strong performance record. President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced in Harare during the 2026 performance contract signing and awards ceremony that she placed first out of 25 Cabinet Ministers.
She was recognised for growing Zimbabwe’s tourism sector by 10 percent in 2025 — reaching nearly 1.78 million international arrivals — and for promoting domestic and global campaigns such as ZimBho.
Around the same time, she was also named Tourism Minister of the Year (Africa) by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) at ITB Berlin 2026.
Minister Rwodzi is among distinguished Ministers from across Africa nominated for the Unstoppable Cabinet Minister of the Year 2026 Award.
Voting is now open and closes on October 5, 2026.
Zimbabweans have been urged to vote for Minister Rwodzi and make their vote count.
To cast your vote, visit: https://unstoppableafricanawards.com/#vote/the-unstoppable-cabinet-minister-of-the-year
About Author
