Zimbabwe wants to create ‘Africa’s Dubai’ at the iconic Victoria Falls
The Zimbabwean government is planning to launch an offshore financial centre in the resort city of Victoria Falls. The Southern African government wishes to vie with the likes of Dubai and the Isle of Man to attract foreign investment into the city. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in an interview, according to Fin24, that the
Zimbabwe wants to create ‘Africa’s Dubai’ at the iconic Victoria Falls
The Zimbabwean government is planning to launch an offshore financial centre in the resort city of Victoria Falls.
The Southern African government wishes to vie with the likes of Dubai and the Isle of Man to attract foreign investment into the city.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in an interview, according to Fin24, that the centre will see the country attracting foreign investors.
He referenced the centre to the US dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange that’s experiencing a listings boom.
“The trigger is the success of the VFEX. We want to compete with any offshore financial centre in the world,” said Ncube.
The project will “offer investors an environment comparable” to the Isle of Man, Mauritius, and Dubai, he said.
BusinessTech Africa has also gathered that a United States experienced banker Marc Holtzman, has been appointed board chairman of the centre – he is also the chairman of CBZ Holdings, Zimbabwe’s biggest lender.
It is also reported that the financial centre will be a hard currency zone, based on US dollars, and offer tax incentives.
According to Ncube, land has been set aside by the state to attract global banks to establish offices in the country and the VFEX, which officially launched in October 2020, will be housed under the financial centre.
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.
“Two more companies are coming and two more are seeking approval,” Justin Bgoni, the chief executive officer at VFEX, said Monday by text message.
The listings on VFEX have led to de-listings on the main exchange in Harare, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, which trades in Zimbabwean dollars.
“Companies are free to choose where to list. I’m not too worried about companies moving across from the ZSE to VFEX,” he said.
