Online Reporter
Nelson Gahadza
Business Reporter
AN inaugural investor-focused indaba has been scheduled for next month to connect institutional capital with bankable projects and accelerate investment into strategic sectors of the economy.
The Zimbabwe Future Capital Forum (ZFCF), to be held next month alongside the sixth ZimReal Property Investment Forum, comes as authorities implement sweeping measures to deepen the country’s capital markets, broaden investment products, and improve access to long-term financing.
More than 400 delegates representing over 100 local, regional and international organisations are expected to attend, including pension funds, banks, private equity firms, asset managers, stock exchanges, development finance institutions and property developers.
The forum, according to organisers, is the first investor-focused platform in Zimbabwe dedicated to bringing together providers of capital and project developers, creating a marketplace where recent financial sector reforms can be translated into tangible investment opportunities.
The event follows a series of reforms aimed at strengthening Zimbabwe’s capital markets, including relaxing listing requirements, the introduction of specialised investment vehicles, the institutionalisation of green and sustainability bonds, and enhancing the competitiveness of the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange through new statutory instruments.
API Events commercial director Mr Murray Anderson said Zimbabwe had laid the foundations for a stronger investment ecosystem, with the forum providing the missing link between available capital and investable projects.
“Zimbabwe’s capital markets have just been through arguably their most significant reset in a generation. Over the past two years, the ecosystem and the infrastructure have been built.
“But reform only matters if it reaches the market and that is the purpose behind the ZFCF. The capital exists and the products are finally here; this forum is where they meet,” he said.
Investor Hosting Centre general manager Mr Benedict Chisale said the country’s immediate challenge was no longer the availability of capital but the shortage of well-structured, investment-ready projects capable of attracting institutional investors.
He said the forum would focus on building a pipeline of bankable projects while unlocking funding from pension funds, private equity firms, asset managers and other alternative sources of long-term finance.
The forum will also showcase investment opportunities across listed property, real estate investment trusts (REITs), infrastructure development, renewable energy and other high-growth sectors expected to underpin Zimbabwe’s economic transformation.
