VFIFC backed by strong legal framework to attract investor capital

THE Government has established a comprehensive legal framework to support the Victoria Falls International Financial Centre (VFIFC), providing investors with enforceable rights, regulatory certainty and a dedicated dispute resolution mechanism as Zimbabwe moves to attract international capital.

Speaking during the listing of agro-industrial giant TSL Limited on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) on Friday, VFIFC Chief Legal Officer Mrs Meluleki Sibanda said the success of the financial centre depended on a strong rules-based foundation rather than policy intentions.

“Investors do not commit capital to intentions. They commit capital to enforceable rights, created by legislation, administered by an accountable regulator, and adjudicated under a dedicated arbitration framework,” said Mrs Sibanda.

She said the VFIFC had been established as a distinct, internationally benchmarked financial jurisdiction with its own regulatory framework, hard-currency certainty, fiscal incentives and measures to protect participants from economic volatility.

The legal architecture supporting the centre includes Statutory Instrument 68 of 2026, which gives the Victoria Falls International Financial Services Commission supervisory powers, and SI 66 of 2026, which establishes a specialised legal framework through the Victoria Falls International Arbitration Centre.

The framework requires International Financial Services Centre participants to enter into arbitration agreements, allowing commercial disputes to be resolved through a streamlined and expert-led process outside the traditional court system.

The regulatory framework also includes SI 65 of 2026, which provides for the testing and development of cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and artificial intelligence through a supervised fintech laboratory, while SI 67 of 2026 establishes an insurance framework with strict asset segregation requirements.

Mrs Sibanda said the VFIFC was Zimbabwe’s response to the challenge faced by many economies of attracting long-term international capital while domestic monetary systems continue to consolidate.

“Our answer is the answer given by Mauritius, Dubai and Kigali before us,” she said.

She said the centre was established with clear objectives, including licensing and regulating international financial services to globally recognised standards, guaranteeing the movement of capital, enforcing anti-money laundering and economic substance requirements, and mobilising investment into productive sectors in Zimbabwe and the region.

“The measure of this Centre’s success will not be the number of counters on the board; it will be the quantum of fresh United States dollars raised through this market and deployed into productive assets across Zimbabwe and the region,” said Mrs Sibanda.

The listing of TSL Limited on VFEX was described as a vote of confidence in the legal framework supporting the financial centre.

Mrs Sibanda said TSL’s earnings were largely denominated in United States dollars, making VFEX, which prices companies in the currency they trade in, a natural home for the company.

She said while the migration of companies from other exchanges helped deepen the market and improve valuations, the main objective of the VFIFC remained attracting new capital.

“Migration matters, but migration alone recycles existing capital. The primary mandate of this Centre is the mobilisation of new and fresh capital: foreign direct investment, international portfolio flows, diaspora capital and regional institutional money not currently at work in this economy,” she said.

The VFIFC incentives include exemption of listed securities from capital gains tax, a reduced five percent dividend withholding tax for foreign investors, lower trading costs and exchange-control freedoms provided for under Statutory Instrument 196.

Mrs Sibanda said the centre had committed to providing regulatory certainty, maintaining market integrity through international standards of disclosure, governance and financial crime compliance, while partnering with investors in capital mobilisation.