By Nigel Pfunde
HARARE — Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi has been nominated for the prestigious Unstoppable Cabinet Minister of the Year 2026 Award, a major continental recognition celebrating bold administrative reforms, transparent policy execution and high-impact development initiatives.
The voting process, which allows members of the public and sector stakeholders across Africa to cast their ballots online in support of her milestone-driven leadership, is currently underway and will officially close on October 5.
The latest nomination adds to a decorated cabinet career in which Minister Rwodzi has consistently clinched top-tier domestic and global accolades. In March 2026, President Mnangagwa named her Zimbabwe’s overall best-performing Cabinet Minister for her exceptional output, placing her first among 25 ministers in government performance evaluations. Under her stewardship, Zimbabwe’s tourism sector experienced a historic post-pandemic rebound, surpassing mining and agriculture as the primary contributor to national GDP growth following a total of 1.78 million international arrivals that generated US$1.32 billion.
Minister Rwodzi was also crowned Tourism Minister of the Year for Africa at the ITB Berlin 2026 PATWA Awards in Germany, where Destination Zimbabwe simultaneously bagged the Destination of the Year, Natural Wonders award. Her diplomatic leadership further saw her elected Vice-President of the UN Tourism General Assembly representing Africa alongside Nigeria.
Driven by her 12-cluster sector diversification model, Minister Rwodzi continues to push Zimbabwe’s tourism growth through high-impact initiatives. These include the Gastronomy Tourism Initiative spearheaded by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, community-based rural tourism projects developed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the hosting of the inaugural UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism for Africa in Victoria Falls.
