Zimbabwe aspires to create ‘Africa’s Dubai’ at Victoria Falls

Zimbabwe plans to create an offshore financial center in the resort city of Victoria Falls that the government hopes will emulate the success of Dubai and the Isle of Man in attracting foreign investment.

“The trigger is the success of the VFEX,” Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said, referring to the US dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange that is experiencing a listings boom. “We want to compete with any offshore financial center in the world.” The project will “offer investors an environment comparable” to the Isle of Man, Mauritius, and Dubai, UAE, he said. Marc Holtzman, a US veteran banker with a 35-year experience in emerging markets and chairman of CBZ Holdings, Zimbabwe’s biggest lender, has been appointed board chairman of the future center. The financial center is envisioned as a hard currency zone, based on the US dollar, and offers tax incentives. Land has been set aside by the state to attract global banks to establish offices in the country, according to the Finance Minister.

The VFEX, which was officially launched in October 2020, will be housed under the financial center. The bourse has seen a surge in listings particularly in the last quarter of 2022, attracted by the trade in US dollars, tax exemptions on capital gains and the ability to repatriate funds from a country where foreign exchange is in short supply. It now has eight traded businesses. The listings on VFEX have led to de-listings on the main exchange in Harare, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, which trades in Zimbabwean dollars. Authorities won’t attempt to dictate to firms which bourse to list on, as this is informed by their unique capital needs, the Finance Minister said.