Old Mutual Limited (OML), a pan-African financial services group, is returning to Zimbabwe’s capital markets after six years, shifting its listing from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to the U.S. dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX). The move ends a suspension imposed in 2020 during Zimbabwe’s exchange rate crisis and restores trading in one of the country’s largest listed companies.

The migration closes one of Zimbabwe’s longest-running capital market disputes and is expected to improve access to the insurer’s shares through a hard-currency exchange.

Suspension ends after six years

OML was suspended from the ZSE in June 2020 alongside PPC Limited and Seed Co after authorities argued that the companies’ dual listings enabled investors to calculate an implied exchange rate that challenged the official value of the Zimbabwe dollar.

By comparing share prices on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange with those on overseas markets, investors derived an alternative exchange rate that increasingly became the benchmark for pricing goods and services as confidence in the official rate weakened.

Seed Co resumed trading through a VFEX listing later in 2020, leaving Old Mutual and PPC suspended. With Old Mutual’s return, PPC remains the only one of the three companies yet to resume trading on a Zimbabwean exchange.

Announcing the agreement, ZSE Holdings Chief Executive Justin Bgoni said discussions between the ZSE, VFEX and Old Mutual had led to the migration of the insurer’s listing to the dollar-based exchange.

“Following the suspension of Old Mutual Limited on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 2020, the ZSE and Victoria Falls Stock Exchange have been engaging with OML to resolve the outstanding suspension,” Bgoni said.

“During the suspension, OML has complied with its continuing obligations as an issuer and has also paid dividends to its shareholders.”

VFEX opens dollar trading access

Bgoni said the move would allow investors to buy and sell Old Mutual shares in U.S. dollars, improving liquidity while providing access to a market designed for foreign-currency trading.

“Following the migration, OML shareholders will be able to buy and sell their shares through their preferred licensed stockbroker or via the VFEX Direct online trading platform, providing greater flexibility and convenience in accessing the market,” he said.

The agreement comes as Old Mutual continues to deal with restrictions on moving money out of Zimbabwe. The South African financial services group has previously disclosed that about $84 million in legacy dividends from its Zimbabwe business remain trapped under the country’s blocked-funds framework.

Bgoni credited the government, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, and Old Mutual’s board and management for resolving the long-running issue. He said the migration also reflected growing confidence in Zimbabwe’s capital markets and the VFEX.

Old Mutual strengthens VFEX market

Launched as Zimbabwe’s foreign currency exchange, the VFEX was created to operate under a separate regulatory framework aimed at attracting international investors and supporting U.S. dollar-denominated trading.

Old Mutual, founded in 1845 as South Africa’s first mutual life insurance company, provides life and general insurance, banking, asset management, and investment solutions across 14 countries. It has a market value of about R60 billion ($3.7 billion) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and has operated in Zimbabwe for nearly a century.

The company established its first regional operations in Salisbury, now Harare, in 1927 and has since become one of the country’s best-known financial services providers.

In recent years, it introduced its O’mari fintech platform in Zimbabwe while reshaping its African footprint through exits from markets including Nigeria and Tanzania.

Dollar markets gain investor focus

The return of Old Mutual is expected to strengthen the VFEX by bringing back one of Zimbabwe’s most actively traded blue-chip stocks. For investors, it removes years of uncertainty surrounding the company’s shares and expands opportunities to trade in U.S. dollars.

At the same time, the migration highlights the growing preference among companies and investors for hard-currency markets as concerns over local currency stability persist.

While trading is set to resume, the unresolved issue of blocked dividends shows that broader challenges around moving capital across Zimbabwe’s borders have yet to be fully addressed. For many investors, those reforms will remain a key measure of confidence in the country’s financial markets.