Victoria Falls Stock Exchange
A US-dollar-denominated exchange established as a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and located in the Victoria Falls Special Economic Zone. It was created to attract foreign capital by removing the currency risk and exchange-control friction that constrain the domestic market, and trades, reports and settles entirely in United States dollars.
- Location
- Victoria Falls Special Economic Zone, Zimbabwe
- Trading currency
- United States dollar (USD)
- Trading hours
- 09:00 to 15:00, Monday to Friday
- Trading days
- Monday to Friday, excluding Zimbabwean public holidays
- Time zone
- Central Africa Time (UTC+2, no daylight saving)
- Market capitalisation
- Approximately USD 1 to 2 billion (2025)
- Listed companies
- Approximately 15 (2025)
- Settlement
- Electronic settlement in US dollars through the central securities depository, with the same infrastructure as the ZSE.
Top performing companies today
Ranked by the current session’s percentage move, strongest first, from the companies this platform covers on this venue.
What trades here
Major indices
- VFEX All Share Index
Major listed companies
- Bindura Nickel Corporation
- Padenga Holdings
- Simbisa Brands
- Innscor Africa
- Caledonia Mining (secondary listing)
Major sectors
- Mining and resources
- Agro-processing
- Quick-service restaurants
- Consumer goods
How the market works
Market structure
A US-dollar-denominated exchange, wholly owned by the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and located inside a Special Economic Zone. Everything — quotation, trading, reporting and settlement — is in United States dollars, which is the entire point of the venue.
Trading mechanisms
A single continuous session aligned with the domestic market. The listing roster is small, so liquidity is thin and spreads are wide; limit orders rather than market orders are the norm.
Listing requirements
Admission requirements are set in the VFEX Listings Requirements and are broadly modelled on the ZSE's, adapted for US-dollar reporting. A sponsoring broker is required, and issuers benefit from the Special Economic Zone tax framework.
Settlement
Electronic settlement in US dollars through the central securities depository, with the same infrastructure as the ZSE.
Regulatory authority
Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZIM). Special Economic Zone incentives are granted under the SEZ framework, not by the exchange.
Market purpose
To serve as an offshore-style, hard-currency financial centre within Zimbabwe: a venue where regional and international investors can hold Zimbabwean assets without local-currency exposure, and where resource companies can raise US dollars.
Market characteristics
Small and young, with a limited number of listings and correspondingly thin liquidity, but structurally simpler than the domestic market because everything is denominated in US dollars. It offers tax and exchange-control incentives granted under the Special Economic Zone framework, including concessions on capital-gains and withholding taxes and freer repatriation of capital and dividends.
How to invest in this market
What it takes to open an account and deal on VFEX, separated by where you live — the two answers are rarely the same, and on some markets they are not even the same process.
Domestic investors
Residents of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean investors can trade the VFEX through the same licensed brokers that serve the ZSE, but need US dollars to do so, since the market does not quote in local currency.
- An account with a SECZIM-licensed stockbroker and a CSD account.
- Identity documentation and KYC verification.
- A US-dollar (nostro) bank account for funding and for receiving dividends and proceeds.
- Tax: the Special Economic Zone framework provides concessions on capital gains and on withholding for VFEX-listed securities. Confirm the current concessions with ZIMRA, as incentives are periodically reviewed.
Foreign investors
Open to foreign investors
This is the venue built for foreign capital. Because it sits in a Special Economic Zone and settles in US dollars, it removes both the currency translation and most of the exchange-control friction that constrain the domestic market — which is why an international investor looking at Zimbabwe usually starts here.
- An account with a SECZIM-licensed stockbroker; institutional investors typically appoint a custodian.
- Passport, proof of address and KYC documentation.
- Funds are brought in and held in US dollars, so no local-currency conversion is involved.
- Capital and dividends can be repatriated more freely than from the ZSE under the Special Economic Zone framework. Confirm the current terms with your broker and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
- Tax: SEZ concessions have applied to capital gains and withholding on VFEX securities; verify the position that applies to your holding.
Foreign ownership limits
The venue was designed to be open to foreign ownership. Where an underlying issuer operates in a sector carrying its own statutory restrictions, those still apply — confirm per company.
Currency considerations
Everything is in United States dollars, so a dollar-based investor carries no currency translation risk on this market. That is the structural difference between the VFEX and the ZSE.
Regulated routes to an account
Licensed intermediaries and official exchange platforms, listed to show the regulated routes into this market. This is not a recommendation and not an exhaustive list — check any firm against the regulator’s register before opening an account.
Verify before you act
Why this market matters
Why investors follow it
It is the practical route to Zimbabwean equity exposure for an international investor, since returns are earned and repatriated in US dollars rather than being subject to local-currency translation. Its mining listings also give direct exposure to Zimbabwe’s nickel, gold and platinum-group resources.
Why companies choose to list on it
To raise hard currency, access foreign investors, and benefit from the Special Economic Zone tax and exchange-control incentives. For exporters that already earn US dollars, a VFEX listing removes the mismatch between reporting currency and revenue currency.
Investor eligibility
Open to both foreign and domestic investors. Because it sits in a Special Economic Zone, foreign investors face materially lighter exchange-control restrictions than on the ZSE, and capital and dividends can be repatriated more freely — the central reason the venue exists.
Interesting facts
- It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, so the two are complementary rather than competing venues.
- Its Special Economic Zone status is the source of its tax and exchange-control concessions, not the exchange rules themselves.
- Several established ZSE issuers have delisted from Harare and relisted in Victoria Falls specifically to obtain US-dollar settlement.
- It was conceived in part to give Zimbabwean mining companies a domestic alternative to listing in London or Johannesburg.
Official sources