Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Zimbabwe has launched a second stock exchange to solely trade shares in foreign currency.
Business Post gathered from state media reports on Saturday that the move was aimed at luring external investors as the country grapples with a forex crisis.
The new bourse has been named the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange and it will be a subsidiary of the Harare-based Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and will start trading on Monday, October 26.
Speaking on this, the country’s Finance Minister, Mr Mthuli Ncube, said, “We saw an opportunity to work with the ZSE in creating a global platform for the trading of stocks in foreign currency, and to do it in a way that promotes foreign investment into Zimbabwe.”
The new bourse – based in northwestern Victoria Falls, the country’s premier tourism destination nicknamed the foundation stone has been touted to transform the town into an offshore financial hub.
The Minister said it will cater mainly to mining conglomerates and giant international corporates such as insurance giant Old Mutual.
In June authorities suspended trade on the main ZSE for a month, accusing it of complicity in illicit financial activities.
Zimbabwe is currently facing one of its worst economic crisis in more than a decade with the government struggling to pay its workers.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came into power since a 2017 military coup after the ousting of long term President, Mr Robert Mugabe, blames the economic situation on unnamed detractors and Western-imposed sanctions.
