Staff Writer
Zimbabwe’s pensions and insurance sector recorded a combined ZiG21 billion in investments during the 2025 financial year, with pension funds emerging as the largest investors, according to data published by Insurance24.
Pension funds accounted for investments valued at ZiG14,728 billion, placing them at the top of the investment table.
Corporates followed closely, with holdings valued at ZiG13,645 billion, representing 29.45% of the market.
Insurance companies were the third-largest group, with investments worth ZiG5.85 billion, equivalent to 12.63% of total market value.
Figures released by the Chengetedzai Depository Company (CDC) for the year ended December 31, 2025, show a market structure heavily shaped by large, long-term institutional investors, underscoring a wide gap in market influence between institutions and smaller participants.
Overall, pension funds accounted for 31.79% of the total market, making them the single largest investor group.
Nominees and other financial institutions also maintained a strong presence, holding ZiG4.33 billion (9.34%) and ZiG4.35 billion (9.38%) respectively, reflecting their continued role as key market intermediaries.
By contrast, individual investors held only ZiG1.80 billion, representing 3.90% of total market assets.
Smaller categories, including foundations, joint accounts, family trusts and not-for-profit organisations, collectively accounted for less than 1% of the market. Government institutions and unclaimed shares together made up less than 0.5%.
During the year under review, a total of 1,290 new accounts were opened on the CDC central securities depository, with 93 of these created in December 2025 alone.
“The cumulative number of accounts created since inception is 49,680. Local investors accounted for 95% of total accounts opened on the CDC CSD since inception,” the CDC said.
The average dematerialisation penetration ratio across all counters stood at 64.45% as at December 31, 2025, indicating the proportion of securities held in electronic form.
CDC reported that 39 issuers were registered on the depository during the year, of which 35 were actively trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), three were suspended and one was privately held. The total value of dematerialised securities registered on the CDC stood at ZiG46.334 billion as at December 31, 2025, while the total market capitalisation of the ZSE regular board was ZiG87.257 billion.
In terms of trading activity, the CDC said it settled a total of 30,073 trades worth ZiG5.182 billion during the period. This was against total turnover of ZiG5.426 billion on the ZSE regular board.
Despite these figures, the CDC noted that overall activity on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange remained subdued during the year under review.
“The expected delisting of Econet Wireless and subsequent listing of Econet InfraCo is expected to significantly impact turnover on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange,” the depository said.
“This may also affect turnover on the remaining counters as investors may decide to hold on to their shares and not sell.”
The CDC also reported that the final quarter of 2025 saw an increase in United States dollar settlements on the ZSE. Looking ahead, the depository expects depository rules as well as Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) rules to be gazetted in the first quarter of 2026.
The SLB sandbox programme ended on December 31, 2025, with the formal rules also expected to be gazetted in the first quarter of 2026. In 2026, the CDC said it will focus on market education initiatives related to Securities Lending and Borrowing.
