• POSB has diversified into real estate and maintained a long USD position to hedge against ZiG inflation
  • Total income rose 65% above plan, driven by bank-to-wallet transfers, remittance partnerships, Ecocash agency services, and bancassurance
  • Digital expansion gained traction, with agency banking up 225% to 541 agents, and a US$12.5 million digital upgrade programme underway

Harare - People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB), Zimbabwe’s state-owned financial institution, has ventured into real estate as part of a hedging strategy against the country’s volatile economy, according to its latest business performance update for the half year ended 30 June 2025.

The move is aimed at preserving value amid rising Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) inflation.

“We reinforced our hedging strategy by maintaining a long USD position and maintaining investments in real estate to preserve value and diversify risk,” the bank said.

Zimbabwe has had a series of curreny carnage, with each currency being dumped with average deficits of over 80%, from ZiM Dollar, Bearer Checks, Bond Notes, Real Time Gross Settlement and ZWL.

Currently, though the ZiG has been stable on the formal market since the beginning of the year, the currency has a wide premium as it trades at 26.9 at formal market against 36 on the parallel market.

Also, last year, the currency was devalued by 43% leading to erosin of value. It is this unexpected monetary moves and adjustments that Bankers are afraid of, hence, hedging with the real estate.

The Bank recorded total income which was 65% above plan, with contributions coming from bank-to-wallet transfers of ZWG$240.3 million and US$9.9 million, remittance partnerships, Ecocash agency services, and bancassurance commissions.

Deposits stood at US$57 million, against a loan book of US$35 million.

Resultantly, profit after tax came in at US$7.03 million, above the budgeted US$5.60 million, while operating costs rose only 3% above target.

In terms of digitalisation, the bank expanded low-cost channels, with ZimSwitch processing 34% of transaction volumes, cell banking 27%, and merchant POS 19%, while agency banking grew 225% to 541 agents. The target is 982 agents by December, signalling a pivot away from branch-heavy expansion.

Looking ahead, POSB has committed US$12.5 million to a digital upgrade programme, including a new core banking system, omni-channel rollout, and AI integration.

 Equity Axis News