The Victoria Falls International Financial Services Centre (VFIFC) is part of Zimbabwe’s effort to establish Victoria Falls as a platform for international finance and investment.
But what exactly is the VFIFC?
Put simply, it is a specialised financial jurisdiction designed to allow international investors, financial institutions and businesses to structure investments, raise and deploy capital and conduct cross-border financial transactions within a purpose-built legal and regulatory framework.
That makes the VFIFC more than a collection of tax incentives or financial-services licences. The more important question is whether the law creates the conditions in which sophisticated transactions can actually be undertaken.
A Different Legal Framework
The legal foundation is section 78B of the Banking Act [Chapter 24:20]. Statutory Instrument 4 of 2022 first declared the Victoria Falls Special Economic Zone an international financial services centre.
Statutory Instrument 29 of 2025, Banking (International Financial Services Centre) Regulations, 2025, then established the Centre and provided its core legal framework.
This statutory instrument is particularly significant because it creates a deliberate departure from the ordinary domestic commercial-law regime. Section 3 (Of what???) provides that the Centre is not subject to Zimbabwean commercial law and courts unless provided for in the regulations.
Section 20 then excludes a range of specified legislation from application within the Centre, including the Companies and Other Business Entities Act [Chapter 24:31], the Securities and Exchange Commission Act [Chapter 24:25], the Collective Investment Schemes Act [Chapter 24:19], the Exchange Control Act [Chapter 22:05] and the Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06].
This does not place the Centre outside Zimbabwean law altogether.
Criminal law, anti-money laundering legislation and other expressly preserved laws continue to apply. What it does is create a separate statutory framework for the commercial and financial activities conducted within the Centre.
That framework has since expanded through eleven VFIFC-specific statutory instruments covering areas including currency transactions, payment systems, banking, companies, capital markets, collective investment funds, fintech, insurance and arbitration.
The significance is not the number of regulations. It is the range of transactions they are designed to support.
Structuring Capital and Financing Projects
SI 63 of 2026 dealing with securities, capital markets and collective investment funds is particularly important for investment structuring.
The regulations provide for different types of investment funds and expressly recognise specialist structures including private equity, venture capital, real estate investment trusts, hedge funds, exchange-traded funds, Islamic funds and credit funds. They also provide for structures such as investment companies, investment partnerships and investment trusts.
This gives investors a legal framework through which capital can be pooled and deployed into assets and projects.
The same applies to project finance.
A large infrastructure, energy, mining or property project requires more than an investor with money. It requires a structure capable of accommodating sponsors, lenders and investors, together with rules governing companies, financing, payment, security and enforcement.
The VFIFC’s corporate, banking, payment and capital-markets regulations begin to provide those building blocks. The precise legal structure will still depend on the transaction and the assets involved, particularly where security, insolvency or enforcement crosses jurisdictions.
Connecting to Capital Markets
The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) adds another important element.
VFEX provides a US dollar-denominated securities market through which companies can access capital and investors can trade securities. This also creates an important potential exit route for investment funds.
The listing of Econet InfraCo at an initial valuation of US$1 billion illustrates the scale of transaction that can be brought to the platform. The migration and listing of additional securities further strengthens the connection between Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe’s capital markets.
For an international investor, however, access to a market is only one part of the equation. Capital must also be capable of moving into and out of the investment.
Satutory Instrument 38 of 2026 addresses foreign-currency transactions within the Centre and forms part of the framework supporting international financial activity. Together with the broader VFIFC framework, it is intended to facilitate transactions involving international capital and investment returns.
Finance Meets Technology and Arbitration
The framework also recognises that modern financial centres cannot be built entirely around traditional banking and securities.
Statutory Instrument 65 of 2026 establishes a regulatory framework for fintech activities within the Centre, including a regulatory sandbox. It also addresses emerging technologies such as smart contracts and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in financial services.
Then there is dispute resolution.
Statutory Instrument 66 of 2026 establishes the Victoria Falls International Arbitration Centre (VFIAC). The detailed arbitration and mediation rules are yet to be promulgated, but the statutory framework provides another important component of the Centre’s legal infrastructure.
For cross-border transactions, this matters.
Investors consider not only how an investment is structured and financed but also what happens when a dispute arises. A dedicated arbitral institution within the financial centre adds another layer of contractual and institutional certainty.
From Legal Framework to Financial Centre
The real significance of the VFIFC lies in how these components can work together.
Consider a hypothetical infrastructure investment. Capital could be pooled through a fund established within the Centre, invested through a locally incorporated project company, financed by regulated institutions, supported by the Centre’s payment and currency framework and ultimately accessed through the capital markets. The transaction could also contain an arbitration agreement providing for disputes to be resolved in Victoria Falls.
That is the broader proposition behind the VFIFC.
The legal architecture is no longer merely theoretical. Zimbabwe has established the framework, introduced specialised regulations and licensed an inaugural group of 38 participants across areas including securities dealing, asset management, custodianship and advisory services.
The next stage is to turn that architecture into a functioning market for international capital.
For Zimbabwe, the opportunity is significant: to create a financial platform through which domestic and regional projects can access international investors and from which sophisticated cross-border transactions can be structured and executed.
The law is being built, the market now has to follow.