THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has moved a step further to create a secondary bourse for small and medium players and will take comments from stakeholders on the first draft of the listing requirements.
VICTORIA MTOMBA BUSINESS REPORTER
The listing requirements for the establishment of the Zimbabwe Emerging Enterprise Market (ZEEM) were issued on Tuesday.
ZSE chief executive officer Alban Chirume said ZEEM would be an extension of the ZSE official list and there would be a section in the Revised Listing rules.
“ZSE seeks to increase its product range through the establishment of a regulated platform to list entities with growth potential,” Chirume said.
“Securities of entities admitted on ZEEM will be traded on the ZSE. However, by virtue of their sizes, ZEEM entities will be subject to less stringent requirements. The platform, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will, therefore, afford smaller entities which do not meet the current listing requirements, the opportunity to list.”
The local bourse currently has 66 counters that are listed and the market capitalisation is over $4,5 billion.
The coming on board of ZEEM will reduce the numbers of counters on ZSE as many listed entities are failing to meet the listing requirements due to the economic challenges being faced in the country.
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Chirume said ZEEM was in line with regional and international trends where alternative markets were set up to nurture smaller companies while broadening choice available to investors.
He said ZEEM was complementing government’s policy enshrined in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation. Chirume said a consultative approach was being used to derive maximum benefit from the practical experiences of all stakeholders.
“ZSE, therefore, welcomes input on the proposed ZEEM Listings Rules and any other issues related to the ZEEM concept,” he said. The local bourse has not been performing well as few counters have been active on the bourse.
The coming on board of the secondary bourse comes at time there has been sentiments that ZSE lacked depth as the current list of actively traded counters was narrow by international standards, militating against the luring of huge investments on the bourse.
Market depth refers to its ability to sustain relatively large market orders without impacting the price of the security.
It also comes when the government has said that the country now has a new economy — the informal sector.
At least 80% of the economy is informal and 20% formal.
