Zimbabwe set to ‘eject’ Old Mutual; confusion over what that means

Old Mutual could become a casualty of the Zimbabwe financial crisis, with the ruling Zanu-PF announcing that it supports a decision to “eject” the South African multinational. Analysts are not clear on whether the plan is to delist Old Mutual from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange or excise the company altogether from the financial services system. Zimbabwean Twitter is abuzz with talk about what this might mean for pensions, banks and the financial crisis. Old Mutual has been accused of playing a central role in “economic sabotage”. President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his team have failed to reverse Zimbabwe’s downward economic trajectory since they unseated Robert Mugabe in late 2017. The country’s hyperinflation is believed to have entered four-digit territory, with entry level civil servants on salaries with a purchasing power that equates to less than one US dollar a day. – Editor

Zimbabwe’s ruling party appears to back expulsion of Old Mutual

By Ray Ndlovu

Zimbabwe’s ruling party said it will expel Old Mutual Ltd. from its financial system, sowing confusion over the status of the insurance giant in the country and what will happen next in the government’s battle to fix its chaotic currency system.

The highest decision-making body of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front on Friday said it endorsed a decision to “eject Old Mutual from the financial system” and to shut down the country’s biggest mobile-money platform, Ecocash. The institutions have caused “runaway inflation through illegal parallel exchange-market rates,” the party’s acting spokesman, Patrick Chinamasa, said after the meeting in Harare.

Clive Mphambela, a Treasury spokesman, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Old Mutual in Johannesburg didn’t respond to calls and a text message seeking comment. Nick Mangwana, a government spokesman, didn’t immediately reply to a text message.

A perennial shortage of cash means anyone who has banknotes is able to negotiate exchange rates with brokers who pay the funds onto mobile-money platforms. The brokers can then sell the hard cash at an even higher rate. The Old Mutual Implied Rate values the Zimbabwean dollar at 122 against the greenback, compared with a black-market rate of about 100, and Friday’s closing price of 65.8765. The government in June abandoned a peg of 25:1 that was put in place in March.

Old Mutual share inspections

Justin Bgoni, the chief executive officer of the stock exchange, said he is aware of the comments from the ruling party, but wasn’t sure what it implied and would rather wait for official communication from authorities before commenting. Sean Gammon, managing director of Harare-based Imara Edwards Securities Pvt Ltd. said the comments by Zanu-PF were probably directed at delisting Old Mutual rather than its removal from the entire financial services sector. Old Mutual spans banking, property and insurance in the country.

The last communication received from authorities was that inspections would be conducted into stockbroker trades in the coming days, he said. Once concluded, trading should resume.

Old Mutual delisted from Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

So what’s going to happen to CABS? Is a bank run possible, or is it of much effect, where people don’t keep their money in banks anyway? And if they do, it was going to lose its value in a few days anyway.

— Cathy (@KatharinaWacho) July 12, 2020