(Bloomberg) -- The US sanctioned Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son on the eve of a US-Africa summit, quashing expectations the meeting would be an opportunity to repair relations.

Emmerson Mnangagwa Jr. was named alongside three other people for their ties to prominent businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, the US Treasury said in a statement published on its website on Monday. Emmerson Mnangagwa Jr. has been in “charge of the president’s business interests related to Tagwirei,” it said. 

Tagwirei was sanctioned by the US in August 2020 for alleged corruption, while President Mnangagwa has been on the list since political turmoil in the southern African nation two decades ago.

Zimbabwe is attending the US-Africa summit in Washington for the first time, represented by Frederick Shava, the foreign affairs minister. Other African leaders have pressed the US government to drop the measures against the president and other government officials and entities and the issue was expected to be raised at the meeting.

While the southern African nation’s government argues the penalties are causing economic damage, the US says they are targeted to impact individuals and don’t affect the wider economy. The sanctions freeze all assets and bar American entities from being in business with the people or companies. 

Read More: U.S. Sanctions Zimbabwe’s ‘Queen Bee’ Over Corruption 

Tagwirei’s wife, Sandra Mpunga and his business associates, Obey Chimuka and Nqobile Magwizi, were also penalized under the new measures announced, as well as Fossil Agro, a state contractor which supplies farm inputs, and Fossil Contracting, a major player in the state’s ongoing infrastructure program.

While the invitation to the summit was a positive development, Washington was using “bully tactics” by imposing the sanctions, Zimbabwean Deputy Information Minister Kindness Paradza said.

“We will work with anyone that wants to work with us,” he said by phone from the capital, Harare, on Tuesday. “We are a friend to everyone. What was the justification of adding Fossil to the sanctions list and the president’s son?”

--With assistance from Godfrey Marawanyika.

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