Story by Stanley James, Business Editor
GOVERNMENT’S thrust of a foreign currency-denominated market is yielding results with companies raising over 45 million United States dollars from the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).
Barely two years after its launch, the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX)’s primary objective for productive sectors to raise foreign funding is on track.
Notable companies that have managed to raise funds from the market in the form of hard cash include mining firms, Karo Resources, and Caledonia.
The entities have raised the funds by floating bonds to their investors for project expansion and new productive units.
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Mr. Justin Bgoni, “Primarily, one of the functions of the VFEX is to raise money due to its hard currency platforms for expansion, the exchange is less than three years old and so far we have raised over US$ 45 million for companies, with more firms being on course to raise more capital.”
To the regulatory authorities, a rise in investor participation has resulted in the hard currency-denominated bourse registering over one billion United States dollars in market capitalisation.
“The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange has continued to grow and for us what is very important is that the market is an off-shore one thereby enabling more companies to have a greater interest in taking part on the exchange,” he said.
The VFEX has already attracted 11 firms, thanks to the government’s incentives like exemptions on capital gains tax, a five percent dividend withholding tax for external investors, minimal currency risks, low transaction costs, and the ability of investors to move their capital and dividends in and out of the country freely.
