Zimbabwe Asset Management Company

The Zimbabwe Asset Management Corporation (Private) Limited (ZAMCO) is a special purpose vehicle company focused on acquiring, restructuring and disposal of non-performing loans of banking institutions in Zimbabwe. It was established by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in July 2014 to deal with problem of rising non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking sector. This was based on the belief that high NPLs invariably constrained the banking institutions’ credit intermediation capacity thus acting as a drag on economic growth.

ZAMCO set a deadline of acquisition of NPLs to 31 March 2017 after which there would be no wholesale acquisitions and the organisation would thereafter be expected to focus on resolution and recovery. This was done to not "create moral hazard in the banking sector." ^[1]

Misconception About ZAMCO's Purpose

In 2017 ZAMCO reported that there had been a misconception that ZAMCO was acquiring loans in order for them to be written off. It clarified:

It is a common misconception amongst some of our debtors that ZAMCO was formed to free them of their debt obligations and acquired the loans to warehouse them until eventual write off. The message to such debtors has been made clear, all loans will be collected and I am glad to report that the attitudes are shifting. To date ZAMCO has managed to fully resolve NPLs worth $ 158.22 million, whether through cash payments, debt asset swaps and other resolution methods which represents a 16% recovery rate within eight months of commencement of the resolution phase.^[1]