Born out of a currency crisis five years ago, Zimbabwe's US-dollar stock exchange has grown up fast — and now it wants to grow a quarter bigger in twelve months. The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange plans to lift its market value by 25% over the next year as it rolls out new products, chief executive Justin Bgoni told Bloomberg.
The $5 billion target
“We are currently on the $4 billion mark, and we will work hard to reach $5 billion” over the next 12 months, Bgoni said in an interview in Victoria Falls. The plan leans on selling more than just ordinary shares: the exchange is pushing property funds, index-tracking funds and infrastructure bonds, having notched its second property-fund listing and its first index fund this year. It has added four new listings this year of a targeted six, and its 21st company just came aboard — Old Mutual, Africa's largest insurer by assets, listed in early August. Bgoni says the exchange is also expecting some international index funds, and is seeing strong interest in developmental property funds and in infrastructure bonds from financial institutions.
A board for the little miners
The headline new idea is a “venture board” — a dedicated place for junior and exploration-stage mining companies to raise money, aimed at the early-stage projects that usually struggle to attract funding. It is a logical fit for a country that is Africa's largest lithium producer and is also rich in platinum and gold, where local banks typically lend only short-term at interest rates around 35%. Mining is a cornerstone of the economy, contributing about 12% of GDP and most of its export earnings. First floated back in March, the board is still to launch.
The exchange has form for punching above its weight: in March it overtook the 132-year-old Zimbabwe Stock Exchange by market value, after tycoon Strive Masiyiwa moved a telecoms-infrastructure firm onto the platform at a $1 billion valuation. Whether it can add the listings — and finally launch that long-promised miners' board — fast enough to hit the $5 billion mark is the real test of the year ahead.
