Old mutual Zimbabwe believes sustaining the current macroeconomic stability creates conditions for mobilising savings that are important in financing infrastructure projects.
The relative macroeconomic stability that has prevailed since 2024, when the country adopted Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) as a new currency, has also allowed consistent pricing strategies and better planning for business.
Low inflation, stable prices and exchange stability have largely been driven by prudent monetary and fiscal policies.
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Savings and capital markets are key to providing long-term funds and investments that are critical for economic development.
In Zimbabwe, banking sector deposits are largely transitory (or short term), while pension funds that should ordinarily provide long-term funding were affected by legacy issues, where depositors, pensioners and investors lost value due to changes in currency in 2009.
Speaking at a media engagement during a visit by the group's chief executive officer, Mr Jurie Strydom, in the capital last week, Old Mutual Zimbabwe chairperson Mr Constantine Chikosi said the economy is currently enjoying the longest spell of stability.
"Inflation remains high, but it is not climbing; it's actually going down and since the launch of ZiG, the exchange rate has stabilised; hence, that is important because it also creates conditions for the mobilisation of savings," he said.
"We need to generate our own funds in the country so that we can fund infrastructure, and this is only possible when we build a savings culture.
"Therefore, we are very encouraged to see this stability because it augurs well for the return of the savings culture and the deepening of the capital markets."
According to the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, the absence of long-term financing from the banking sector is dampening the potential growth of the mortgage industry.
A mortgage is a loan used to buy or maintain a home, plot or other real estate by a borrower who agrees to pay the lender over time.
The purchased property then serves as collateral to secure the loan.
Trust within the financial services sector, Mr Chikosi also said, needs to continue to be promoted, coupled with predictability of policies and regulatory frameworks.
"Where you do not have predictability for business, that means risk, and when you have risk, the cost of capital goes up," he said.
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He also said streamlining the business licensing framework is also key.
"We support and encourage that effort because it reduces the cost of doing business and the time that it takes to comply with the regulatory requirements."
The Government is in the process of comprehensively reviewing business licences and regulatory fees to ease the cost of doing business and attract investment into Zimbabwe.
Old Mutual Zimbabwe group chief executive officer Mr Samuel Matsekete said promoting formality bodes well for an enhanced role of the financial services sector.
"It is not an overnight exercise and it is not a function of just one party's efforts, but it is one where we in the private sector are also challenged to create innovative products and services that will bring the informal sector into the mainstream. But supportive policies would also help those efforts to ensure that we reflect inclusion within the formal channels and investment platforms," he said.
