Old Mutual has returned to Zimbabwe’s capital markets, six years after its shares were suspended during one of the country’s most turbulent currency crises, choosing a US dollar-denominated exchange for its comeback.
The insurer began trading on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) on Wednesday, marking a new chapter for a company whose suspension from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 2020 became a symbol of the wider tensions surrounding the country’s exchange-rate turmoil.
Old Mutual shares opened at 76 US cents and climbed 2.9% to close at 78.17 cents, giving the insurer a market valuation of about US$51 million on the VFEX.
The move is more than a return to trading. It is also another vote of confidence in Zimbabwe’s dollar-based bourse at a time when investors and companies continue to seek protection from currency volatility.
Old Mutual migrated from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange to the VFEX, where trading is conducted exclusively in US dollars. The exchange was established in 2020 and has increasingly become an alternative destination for companies looking for greater certainty in pricing and valuation.
The insurer’s shares were among those suspended by authorities six years ago amid concerns that dual-listed companies were being used by investors to exploit differences between Zimbabwe’s exchange rate and prices in neighbouring markets.
At the time, the country’s local currency was under intense pressure, and regulators moved to halt trading in several cross-border stocks.
Now, Old Mutual is returning to a markedly different trading environment.
The company said the VFEX listing is expected to attract both domestic and international investors over time, with dollar-denominated trading offering clearer valuations and reducing exposure to foreign-currency risk.
For Zimbabwe’s financial markets, the listing adds momentum to a broader shift that has been unfolding since the creation of the VFEX.
The newer exchange overtook the 132-year-old Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in market value earlier this year, helped by major corporate migrations, including telecommunications infrastructure company Econet InfraCo, which moved to the VFEX at a valuation of about US$1 billion.
That shift reflects a growing divide in Zimbabwe’s capital markets.
While the ZSE remains the country’s traditional equities platform, companies and investors have increasingly been drawn to the VFEX by the appeal of trading and raising capital in US dollars.
For Old Mutual, the return brings one of Africa’s largest insurers by assets back into Zimbabwe’s listed market after a six-year absence.
And for the VFEX, the arrival of another major financial institution strengthens its position in a market where the battle for investor confidence is increasingly being fought in dollars.
