Financial Lease Agreements in Zimbabwe

A financial lease agreement is a written lease agreement, including a hire-purchase agreement used by the purchaser without immediately paying cash for it. Section 16 of the Microfinance Act [Chapter 24:30], section 2 of the Moveable Property Security Interests Act [Chapter 14:35] and section 3 of the Hire Purchase Act [Chapter 14:09] provide for financial lease agreements in Zimbabwe.

In terms of section 3 of the Hire Purchase Act [Chapter 14:09] a financial lease agreement is defined as: a written agreement for the letting and hiring of capital goods to be used by the purchaser for the purposes of his trade, where:

The seller is –

A commercial bank; or

An accepting house;

A discount house; or

A financial house

Furthermore, section 2 of the Moveable Property Security Interests Act [Chapter 14:35] defines a financial lease agreement as a: lease agreement, including a hire-purchase agreement, even if not nominally referred to as a lease, under which, at the end of the lease –

The lessee automatically becomes the owner of the asset that is the object of the lease; or

The lessee may acquire ownership of the asset by paying no more than a nominal price; or

The asset has no more than a nominal residual value.