New Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe Presents Credentials

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the United Nations, Taonga Mushayavanhu, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Prior to his appointment, he was head of the President of Zimbabwe’s Secretariat and Chief of Staff from March 2023 after having served as Chief Director for Multilateral Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from January to February 2023.

From December 2020 through 2022, he was posted in Ethiopia as his country’s Permanent Representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Between March 2021 and December 2022, he served as Chairperson of the African Union Permanent Representatives Committee’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights, Democracy and Governance.

From November 2014 to October 2020, he was the Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the United Nations Office, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other International Organizations in Geneva.  From September 2017, he doubled as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Vienna.

He served on various United Nations bodies, including as President of the Conference on Disarmament from August to December 2019 and as Chair of WTO’s Committee on Trade and Development from March 2017 to March 2018.

Born in 1963, he started his foreign service in 1987, assuming various positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including overseas stints in London, United Kingdom, and Beijing, China.

He obtained a postgraduate diploma in management from the University of London and a postgraduate diploma in diplomacy and international studies from the University of Nairobi.  He holds both a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in economic history from the University of Zimbabwe.