Old Mutual has returned to Zimbabwe’s stock market after six years, bringing one of the country’s most closely watched shares back into local trading.
The financial services group began trading on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) on Wednesday, 12 August, at US$0.76 a share. The price rose 2.9% during its first session to close at US$0.7817, valuing the Zimbabwe-listed counter at about US$51 million.
Its return closes a chapter that began in 2020, when authorities suspended trading in Old Mutual shares during a period of severe pressure on Zimbabwe’s currency.
Old Mutual attracted particular attention at the time because its shares traded across different international markets. Comparing those prices provided an unofficial indication of the Zimbabwean dollar’s value, giving rise to what became widely known as the Old Mutual Implied Rate.
Authorities suspended the company alongside other cross-listed counters as they tried to contain turmoil in the foreign exchange market. Zimbabwean shareholders were subsequently left without the ability to trade Old Mutual shares locally.
Six years on, the company is returning to a different market environment. Its secondary Zimbabwe listing has moved from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to VFEX, where securities trade in US dollars.
The change gives shareholders access to a hard-currency market and reduces some of the exchange-rate uncertainty that surrounded the previous listing. Old Mutual has said US dollar trading should also provide clearer valuations and lower foreign currency risk, factors that could make the counter more attractive to international investors.
VFEX opened in 2020 as Zimbabwe sought to develop a foreign-currency securities market capable of attracting new capital. Several companies have since migrated from the older ZSE as businesses looked for greater access to US dollar investment.
Growth on the Victoria Falls bourse has accelerated in recent years. Annual turnover increased from US$0.6 million in 2021 to US$111.1 million in 2025, according to figures previously released by Old Mutual when it proposed the migration.
Another significant boost came earlier this year when Econet InfraCo joined the exchange at a valuation of about US$1 billion. Its arrival helped lift the value of companies trading on VFEX and strengthened the exchange’s position within Zimbabwe’s capital markets.
Not every listed company has followed the same path. Hospitality group African Sun has left the exchange this year, while retailer Edgars has announced plans to delist. Edgars moved to VFEX in 2024 after spending decades on the ZSE.
Those departures underline the pressures facing Zimbabwe’s formal corporate sector. A US dollar trading platform can reduce currency exposure, but it cannot remove wider challenges such as operating costs, weak formal consumer demand and the growing informal economy.
Market liquidity presents another test. Bringing recognised companies onto an exchange increases its profile and market value, but a successful bourse also needs investors to trade those shares regularly.
Old Mutual should provide a useful measure of that appetite.
The company remains one of Africa’s best-known financial services groups and has more than 180 years of history on the continent. Its primary operations are in Africa, while its shares also trade in Johannesburg.
Its Zimbabwean listing carries an additional layer of history because of what happened during the currency crisis. A share price that once became an unofficial reference point for exchange-rate movements has returned through a market where the US dollar is now the trading currency.
That shift captures some of the changes Zimbabwe’s capital markets have undergone since 2020.
Wednesday’s 2.9% gain gave the listing a positive start, although the more important measure will emerge over time. Trading volumes and investor participation will show whether the return can generate lasting interest rather than simply a strong opening session.
Zimbabwean shareholders, however, have already regained something they have been without for six years: the ability to buy and sell Old Mutual shares on a local exchange.
The listing also gives VFEX another established African company as the relatively young exchange tries to deepen Zimbabwe’s capital markets and attract more international investment.
Old Mutual’s return is therefore about more than the movement of one share price. It marks the re-entry of a company that became part of Zimbabwe’s currency story and now finds itself testing the country’s experiment with a US dollar-denominated stock market.
