CBZ Holdings, Zimbabwe’s largest financial services group, has warned that forecasted El Niño conditions could destabilize the agricultural value chain, threatening exports and the wider economy.
This comes as the African Development Bank’s top climate experts say the impending severe weather conditions will likely inflict a combined $10 billion to $20 billion hit on affected African countries.
Commenting on the 2026 outlook in CBZ’s financials for the half year to June, group chairman Luxon Zembe said: “the increased likelihood of an El Niño event during the 2026/27 agricultural season could adversely affect agricultural production, export earnings and broader economic activity.”
He, however, said the group remained “well positioned to navigate the evolving operating environment”, pointing to its diversified business model and sound capital position.
The group’s risk report said that “proactive risk management will be critical in mitigating the potential impact of the forecast super El Niño weather phenomenon and ongoing geopolitical tensions on asset quality and business operations”, adding that new stress test scenarios had been developed to test business resilience against emerging risks.
On collateral, the group disclosed it held ZiG29,19 billion in security against its loan book, including government guarantees, mortgage bonds and registered marketable commodities, up from ZiG20,61 billion at the end of December 2025.
The group’s risk summary in its lates results classified credit risk as “high” in terms of inherent risk, with the direction of travel marked as “increasing,” in contrast to seven other risk categories including liquidity, operational and reputational risk, which were all assessed as “stable.”
Expected credit loss expenses on financial assets rose to ZiG165,72 million for the half year, up from ZiG26,66 million in the prior comparative period.