Old Mutual Limited has expressed its intention to increase investment in Zimbabwe, signalling plans to allocate additional capital to sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, infrastructure, and other areas identified as priorities in the country’s development agenda.
This statement followed a meeting between Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa and a visiting delegation from Old Mutual, led by Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Jurie Strydom. The meeting marked Mr Strydom’s first official visit to Zimbabwe since assuming his role in June 2025.
According to statements made by both parties, the meeting served as a platform to discuss macroeconomic conditions, potential collaboration, and alignment with existing national strategies. Mr Strydom stated that the visit was both a courtesy call and an opportunity to reaffirm Old Mutual’s presence in the Zimbabwean market, which the company considers a long-term investment environment within its wider African portfolio.
“We spoke of encouraging developments in the economy, and of our investments to date in sectors including renewable energy, student housing, and hospitality,” said Mr Strydom.
Old Mutual Zimbabwe’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sam Matsekete, described the engagement as a chance to reflect on areas where greater alignment could be achieved between the private sector, the government, and the broader industrial base. He noted that Old Mutual’s investments in Zimbabwe already span a number of sectors including agriculture, mining-related supply chains, SME infrastructure, and logistics networks.
Mr Matsekete also indicated that Old Mutual is a contributor to Zimbabwe’s energy mix, stating that the company is responsible for producing approximately two-thirds of the electricity generated by independent power producers (IPPs) in the country. He highlighted current projects, including a solar plant nearing completion in Masvingo and another facility at Tugwi Mukosi, which combines hydro and solar generation.
In recent years, Old Mutual has played a notable role in Zimbabwe’s real estate and infrastructure development. Through its property arm, it has financed developments such as Eastgate Market, Arundel Office Park, and several renewable energy projects under the company’s Green Energy Fund.
The group has also supported the agricultural sector through financing facilities targeting smallholder and commercial farmers, and through capital injection into agro-processing value chains.
Mr Matsekete remarked that Old Mutual’s continued investment reflects measured confidence in Zimbabwe’s evolving macroeconomic context, but added that future investment decisions remain subject to ongoing assessments of regulatory, fiscal, and market conditions.
Observers note that Zimbabwe’s economy has seen intermittent signs of stabilisation following a period of protracted economic challenges. While international assessments differ on the scale and durability of economic reform in the country, several domestic and regional institutions have signalled a willingness to increase economic engagement provided certain conditions are met.
Old Mutual’s position as a long-standing institutional investor in Zimbabwe allows it to contribute to infrastructure and energy projects at scale, particularly where blended financing or long-term capital is required. The group’s approach in Zimbabwe appears to align with broader trends in pan-African investment, where domestic and regional capital is increasingly deployed in support of locally defined development frameworks.
Within a continental context, Old Mutual’s engagement is consistent with a wider shift in African markets towards leveraging institutional investment for infrastructure and energy development. The extent to which such investments translate into long-term developmental outcomes remains subject to implementation, oversight, and public-private coordination.
