UK Resets Ties With Zimbabwe in Push for Critical Minerals

Zimbabwe and the UK are rekindling diplomatic ties after almost three decades of tension, driven by a global surge in demand for critical minerals that’s led the former colonial power to pursue $1 billion in deals with the resource-rich nation.

In June, the UK dispatched Minister for Africa Lord Ray Collins of Highbury to meet Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other senior leaders. The trip marked a rare encounter between the two nations’ officials after years of deteriorating relations, especially under former President Robert Mugabe — a vocal critic of Britain’s 90-year colonial rule of the southern African nation.