AI regulation in Zimbabwe (2026)

Developed by the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services with UNESCO support, the strategy organises Zimbabwe's AI ambitions across six pillars: Talent & Capacity, Infrastructure & Computational Sovereignty, AI Adoption & Service Transformation, Governance/Ethics/Regulation, Research & Innovation, and International Collaboration. Implementation runs in three phases: Foundation Building (2025–2026), Scaling (2027–2028), and Maturation (2029–2030).

The strategy calls for the creation of the Zimbabwe AI Regulatory Authority (ZAIRA), an independent body responsible for policy development, compliance monitoring, and public stakeholder engagement on AI. ZAIRA is proposed — it has not yet been established by statute as of the strategy's launch.

The Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 11:12] (No. 5/2021), enforced by POTRAZ, governs collection, processing, and storage of personal data and established a Cybersecurity and Monitoring Centre. It applies indirectly to AI systems that handle personal data; data controllers were required to register with POTRAZ by March 2025.

The strategy introduces a POTRAZ-supervised AI regulatory sandbox, dubbed the 'Innovation Crucible', allowing startups to test AI products in real-market conditions under temporary regulatory flexibility. The first cohort is expected to include five to seven fintech and telecommunications companies.

Zimbabwe's strategy was preceded by a UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) report in 2025, anchored on UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. The strategy explicitly grounds its ethics framework in Ubuntu philosophy and sovereign data principles.

As of May 2026 no dedicated AI statute has been enacted. The strategy signals intent to develop a flexible AI regulatory framework covering risk classification, liability, ethical procurement, and data governance reforms, but these remain at the policy-design stage with no bill yet tabled in Parliament.