The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says the country's banking system remains largely stable, while also assuring the public there will be no loss of value post-dollarisation, after 2030.
Zimbabweans may still have unpleasant memories of 2008, when inflation climbed to record levels and wiped out savings.
The Government is, however, in the process of implementing various initiatives, including the introduction of a new gold-backed local currency, which has already stabilised the exchange rate and lowered inflation.
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RBZ deputy governor Dr Innocent Matshe, speaking at the Old Mutual Zimbabwe Better Future Summit 2025, stressed that no monetary or asset value will be lost after 2030, adding that all the banks are adequately capitalised.
"All contracts denominated in foreign currencies, such as the US dollar, will be settled in those currencies, while local contracts will be settled in local currency.
"Currently, banks have a capital adequacy ratio well above the required standards, ensuring that banks have sufficient capital to meet their obligations," he said.
Zimbabwe is presently operating under a multicurrency regime largely comprising the US dollar and Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), legally provisioned to run until 2030, by which time the country should have strong fundamentals to support a stable domestic unit.
The country officially adopted a US dollar-denominated multicurrency system in 2009 after hyperinflation decimated the value of the then-local currency, the Zimbabwe dollar.
Dr Matshe emphasised the RBZ's commitment to facilitating payments and ensuring that the banking system operates smoothly.
"The central bank is working to ensure that payment systems are efficient and reliable, allowing individuals and businesses to conduct transactions with confidence," he said.
The central bank deputy governor said the fundamental principle of safety, given the experiences from the recent past, was currency stability.
Speaking on leveraging digital, data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance financial services and capital markets, Dr Matshe said,
The advent of big data management and AI is revolutionising the country's financial system, which can be used by both private and public sectors to propel the economy forward.
"High mobile penetration in the web of technological innovation is transformed into a financial service, and this rapid digitalisation has had an impact on our central banks across the globe.
"They form their functions, thereby enhancing efficiency, robustness and expansion of financial institutions," he said.
Fintech Escrow Group chief executive Mr Collen Tapfumaneyi told attendees at the same event that the estimated total asset value of real estate properties is around US$85 billion in Zimbabwe.
Rural farmers are estimated to have US$5 million worth of livestock.
In that regard, he said the biggest problem in the capital market is capital formation, where there is access to capital markets.
"The inclusion statistics that always come up are consolidated, but when we disaggregate and look at the capital markets, that is a sad story in terms of financial inclusion.
"That basically tells us that less than 100,000 people out of our 16 million people have exposure to capital markets directly, but there is always an argument that if the pension fund is investing, you are investing, but we are talking about direct access by the people," he said.
He added that Zimbabwe's market capitalisation of consolidated securities exchanges makes up about 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to South Africa's market capitalisation, which is at 300 percent, or three times the GDP, and that is what is supposed to be normal.
"When we look at the transaction activities that we witness, a couple of statistics, the diaspora, for example, 2024 was reported to be around US$2 billion. That speaks to the capacity of our diaspora in terms of liquidity.
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"The mobile money subscriber base is around US$9,53 million, and that is a huge number in terms of financial inclusion.
"The biggest question is, without a strong capital formation base, it is very difficult for us to grow our economy.
"Businesses should be able to have long-term growth being financed at interest rates of maybe 15 percent in US dollar terms, and this is the challenge that we have," said Mr Tapfumaneyi.
"Turning the assets that I have mentioned into securities is expected to generate trillions of dollars.
"The livestock and asset base, using AI or digital tools, can convert that into actual liquidity and address financial inclusion by ensuring that the farmers can have their biological assets securitised, and in so doing, a lot of other financial services come in," said Mr Tapfumaneyi.
