The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, or ZSE, is the official

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Its history dates back to 1896 but has only been open to foreign

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

since 1993. The exchange has about a dozen members, and currently lists 63 equities. There are two primary indices, the ZSE All Share and the ZSE Top 10.

History

The first stock exchange in

opened shortly after the arrival of the

Pioneer Column The Pioneer Column was a force raised by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company in 1890 and used in his efforts to annex the territory of Mashonaland, later part of Zimbabwe (once Southern Rhodesia). Background Rhodes was anxious t ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

in 1896. However, it only operated for about six years. Other stock exchanges were established in Gwelo (

Gweru Gweru is a city in central Zimbabwe. Near the geographical centre of the country. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Northern Ndebele people, Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high ...

) and Umtali (

Mutare Mutare (formerly Umtali) is the most populous city in the province of Manicaland, and the third most populous city in Zimbabwe, having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 and approximately 260,567 ...

). The Mutare Exchange, also opened in 1896, thrived on the success of local

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, but with the realization that deposits in the area were not extensive, activity declined and it closed in 1924. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a new exchange was founded in

Alfred Mulock Bentley Alfred Mulock Bentley (1878–1956) was an Irish-born financier who founded the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, Rhodesian Stock Exchange in Bulawayo in 1946. He served in the Boer War from 1899-1902. Alfred was born on 30 May 1878 in Dublin, Ireland ...

and dealing started in January 1946. A second floor was opened in Salisbury (

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

) in December 1951 and trading between the two centers took place by

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

. Traders continued working by telephone until it was decided that legislation should be enacted to govern the rights and obligations of the members of the exchange and the general investing public. The Rhodesia Stock Exchange Act reached the statute book in January 1974. The members of the exchange continued to trade as before and for legal reasons it became necessary to create a new exchange coincidental with the passing of the legislation. The exchange dates from the passing of the act in 1974, and is operated and regulated in accordance with the act and its amendments, including 1996's Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Act: Chapter 24:18. On achieving independence from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1980, the exchange changed its name from the Rhodesia to the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. With the decline of the Zimbabwean economy, hyperinflation rendered the Zimbabwean dollar useless and the US-Dollar was adopted as the legal tender for trading on the exchange in February 2009. As of March 2009, trade has been very thin, with very few foreign investors willing to risk trading on the market. Most stocks trade in the US-cent range, with at least 26 different stocks not trading at all. On 26 June 2020, the Zimbabwean government announced that the stock exchange would suspend trading from 29 June in order to impose measures that were expected to address the

RTGS dollar RTGS may refer to: *Real-time gross settlement *Royal Thai General System of Transcription *RTGS Dollar RTGS may refer to: *Real-time gross settlement Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems are specialist funds transfer systems where the tran ...

, which has been experiencing high inflation since its introduction. The exchange resumed operations on 3 August 2020.

Victoria Falls Stock Exchange

Victoria Falls Stock Exchange The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) is a small stock exchange headquartered in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It was established in 2020, as a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to operate in the Victoria Falls special economic zone. ...

is a stock exchange established in 2020 as a subsidiary of the ZSE to operate in the Victoria Falls special economic zone.{{Cite web, last=Kuyedzwa, first=Crecey, title=Victoria Falls Stock Exchange: Zim's plan to lure back fleeing foreign investors, url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/africa/victoria-falls-stock-exchange-zims-plan-to-lure-back-fleeing-foreign-investors-20201023, access-date=2021-06-24, website=Fin24, language=en-US

References

Business organisations based in Zimbabwe Economy of Zimbabwe Buildings and structures in Harare Stock exchanges in Africa

History

Victoria Falls Stock Exchange

See also

References