The renewal comes despite calls by African leaders for sanctions to be lifted to give the country a chance to recover from its economic crisis. Sanctions were imposed under the rule of Robert Mugabe, who brought the country to near ruin during his 37-year tenure. The west accused him of rigging elections, rights abuses and oppressing opponents before he was ousted after a coup in 2017.

Zimbabwe believes the new dispensation has laid a firm foundation for future relations with the United States. But a military crackdown on post-election violence last August and fuel price protests in January offered stark indications that the country is reverting to the authoritarian streak that characterised Mugabe’s rule.

The sanctions bar US officials from voting for Zimbabwe to access funds from foreign lenders like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, hobbling its economy, which is gripped by a severe shortage of dollars. With high inflation, and a shortage of cash in circulation eroding ordinary citizens’ spending power, the fragile state of the economy is at the heart of the country’s political troubles. The EU has retained sanctions on Mugabe as well as an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.