THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) says its newly-launched Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) has generated interest from both local and foreign companies and it is working at securing more listings next year. BY MTHANDAZO NYONI Dubbed pan-African bourse, VFEX seeks to raise capital and drive foreign direct inflows into the Zimbabwean economy. The bourse also allows listed companies to raise and trade their stocks in any convertible hard currency, limiting the exchange risk. But since the bourse was launched in October this year, only SeedCo International has listed. ZSE chief executive officer Justin Bgoni, however, said they were expecting more entities to list beginning next year as listings take “any time between six months and two years”. “VFEX was launched on October 23, 2020 and is less than two months old. We actually celebrate having secured a listing within such a short period of time — ordinarily listings take any time between six months and two years,” he told NewsDay Business. “VFEX has generated interest from both local and foreign companies and we are working at getting more listings in 2021.” Launching the platform, Finance and Economic Development minister Mthuli Ncube said the bourse was a gateway for local and global companies to raise capital in foreign currency. Ncube said there was a need for the creation of globally recognised stock exchanges in Africa, those that arise from environments that are devoid of any negative impact of exchange rate fluctuations. Commenting on the delisting of companies from the ZSE, Bgoni said: “To date, this year, only Falcon Gold Zimbabwe and ZPI (Zimre Property Investments) have delisted from the ZSE. “As you might be aware, the capital markets provide an avenue for long-term capital raising as well as flexible corporate transactions including mergers, acquisitions and divestments. Falcon Gold delisted voluntarily and ZPI was merged into Zimre Holdings, a listed company,” he said. Bgoni said ZPI delisting was, therefore, not a total loss as the entity remained part of a listed entity. “We now have one bigger entity instead of two smaller individual firms. Falcon Gold was a loss of a client, but we respect shareholders decisions when they make a listing decision and we also respect them when they decide to move away from the exchange,“ he said. Follow Mthandazo on Twitter@MthandazoNyoni