The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is working on a set of rules to guide how local banks use artificial intelligence (AI). The central bank says the goal is to encourage innovation while making sure AI doesn’t threaten financial stability or expose customers to new risks.
It sounds big, but here’s the thing: most Zimbabwean banks aren’t really using AI yet.
What RBZ Is Planning
The guidelines will set out minimum standards for banks that want to roll out AI systems. RBZ says it will cover:
- Risk management — banks will need to prove their AI tools don’t create hidden risks.
- Data privacy & security — making sure customer information isn’t abused or leaked.
- Ethical AI use — avoiding algorithmic bias, especially in lending and credit scoring.
- Operational governance — keeping humans in the loop when AI makes important decisions.
In short, RBZ wants banks to move with the times but play it safe.
Where Banks Are Today
Right now, “AI in Zimbabwean banking” mostly means basic automation:
- Generating reports automatically
- Running compliance checks in real time
The more advanced stuff you hear about globally, predictive analytics, AI-powered fraud detection, robo-advisors, algorithm-driven credit scoring, hasn’t really taken off here.
Which means these rules are not really solving a current problem, but preparing for one we haven’t reached yet. And that can be a good thing. There are times when proactivity in regulation works out.
Why This Matters
Even if most banks aren’t using AI now, they will get there. Whether it’s:
- Chatbots that handle customer queries,
- Algorithms that decide who gets a loan, or
- Systems that flag suspicious transactions before humans notice them
AI will creep into banking whether we like it or not.
When that happens, we’ll want some law and order, so to speak. Otherwise, we could see:
- Biased lending decisions if poorly trained models deny loans unfairly. However, banks aren’t really lending anyway, so it might not be a big deal to most.
- Data misuse if sensitive customer info is fed into AI tools that are not really understood. While most Zimbos don’t care much about data misuse as cybersecurity experts try to warn us about, we definitely would care about sensitive financial data being misused. That is for the few that are actually banked.
- Operational risks if systems fail and no one knows why.
RBZ’s framework is supposed to prevent exactly that.
The Bigger Picture
This move is part of the RBZ’s “broader fintech and digital transformation strategy.” On paper, it makes sense: create the rules before the technology becomes mainstream.
But we’ve seen similar initiatives before. Regulations get written, banks nod, and actual implementation is nowhere to be seen. In this case, adoption depends on:
- Whether banks are ready to invest in AI infrastructure,
- If there’s enough local expertise to manage these systems, and
- How RBZ enforces the standards once they’re set. If you ask me, this last one could be the problem.
Without those pieces, these guidelines could end up more aspirational than practical. It would just be a way to mark off a checklist that central banks now have to contend with.
What’s Next
The RBZ hasn’t given a timeline, but the guidelines are expected “soon.” Once released, banks will have to update policies, train staff, review their data security frameworks and maybe even rethink how they build products and services.
Let’s hope everything goes right. If it doesn’t, we could see AI-driven mistakes at a massive scale.
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