Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
Zimbabwe’s principal securities exchange and the main venue for domestic equity capital. It lists the country’s established banks, agro-industrial groups, brewers, retailers and property companies, and trades in the local currency. Following the currency reforms of the 2019 to 2024 period it has operated alongside the US-dollar-denominated VFEX, with several issuers migrating between the two.
- Location
- 4th Floor, Old Reserve Bank Building, 76 Samora Machel Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Trading currency
- Zimbabwe local currency (ZiG, the gold-backed unit introduced in April 2024)
- 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
- Reported in local currency; broadly equivalent to a low single-digit billion US dollars, and highly sensitive to the exchange rate used (2025)
- Listed companies
- Approximately 50 (2025)
- Settlement
- Electronic settlement through the Chengetedzai Depository Company, Zimbabwe's central securities depository, on a T+3 basis. Confirm the current cycle with your broker — it has been revised since dematerialisation.
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
- ZSE All Share Index
- ZSE Top 10
- ZSE Medium Cap
Major listed companies
- Delta Corporation
- Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
- Innscor Africa
- CBZ Holdings
- Hippo Valley Estates
- Meikles
Major sectors
- Beverages and consumer goods
- Telecommunications
- Agriculture and agro-processing
- Banking
- Property
- Retail
How the market works
Market structure
An automated trading system, in operation since 2015, replacing the open-outcry call-over that ran for decades. The ZSE lists established local-currency issuers — banks, brewers, agro-industrial groups, retailers and property companies — and owns the US-dollar-denominated VFEX as a subsidiary.
Trading mechanisms
A single continuous session with an opening and a closing phase. Turnover is concentrated in a handful of large counters, and it is normal for smaller counters to go days without a trade — check the last traded date before treating a quoted price as current.
Listing requirements
Admission requires audited financial statements, a minimum subscribed capital and profit history set in the ZSE Listings Requirements, a minimum spread of shareholders and public float, a sponsoring broker, and continuing disclosure obligations. Thresholds are lower than on the JSE, reflecting the size of the domestic market.
Settlement
Electronic settlement through the Chengetedzai Depository Company, Zimbabwe's central securities depository, on a T+3 basis. Confirm the current cycle with your broker — it has been revised since dematerialisation.
Regulatory authority
Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZIM). Exchange control is administered separately by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Market purpose
To provide Zimbabwean companies with a regulated domestic venue for raising local-currency capital, and to give domestic savers a listed store of value and a means of participating in the formal economy.
Market characteristics
A frontier market: comparatively few listings, concentrated turnover in a handful of large counters, and periods of thin liquidity. Local-currency valuations have at times been driven as much by inflation and currency expectations as by company fundamentals, so investors commonly convert prices to US dollars before comparing performance across periods. Settlement is electronic through the Chengetedzai Depository, and trading is automated.
How to invest in this market
What it takes to open an account and deal on ZSE, 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 residents deal through a stockbroker licensed by SECZIM, or through one of the mobile platforms that sit on top of the depository. Account opening is straightforward; the practical constraints are liquidity and settlement, not access.
- An account with a stockbroking firm licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe.
- A CSD account with Chengetedzai Depository Company, which the broker arranges.
- National identity document, proof of residence and KYC verification; a tax clearance may be requested.
- No formal minimum capital, though brokers set their own minimum ticket sizes and mobile platforms allow very small amounts.
- Tax: capital gains withholding tax is deducted on the sale of listed securities, at a rate that depends on the holding period, and a withholding tax applies to dividends. Rates have changed frequently — confirm the current position with ZIMRA or your broker.
Foreign investors
Open through a defined route
Foreign investors are permitted, but this is the market where the fine print matters most. The binding constraint has historically been exchange control on getting money out again, not permission to come in — which is precisely why the VFEX was created.
- An account with a SECZIM-licensed stockbroker, which will open the CSD account.
- Passport, proof of address and KYC documentation; custodian arrangements are usual for institutional investors.
- Funds must be brought in through formal banking channels and recorded as foreign investment, so that the inflow is documented for any later repatriation application.
- Repatriation of dividends and sale proceeds is subject to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe exchange-control approval and to foreign-currency availability. This has been the practical obstacle for offshore investors, and it should be confirmed before capital is committed.
- Tax: withholding applies to dividends and to capital gains on disposal; treaty relief may be available depending on your country of residence.
Foreign ownership limits
Foreign shareholding per counter has been subject to statutory limits, and those limits have been revised more than once since the indigenisation legislation of the 2010s. Confirm the position that applies today with SECZIM and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe rather than relying on any published figure.
Currency considerations
Trading is in the local currency (ZiG, the gold-backed unit introduced in April 2024). Local-currency valuations have at times moved with inflation and exchange-rate expectations rather than with company fundamentals, so converting prices to US dollars before comparing periods is standard practice. A US-dollar investor may prefer the VFEX for the same reason.
Regulated routes to an account
- ZSE DirectThe exchange's own online trading platform.
- C-TradeMobile and web platform giving access through licensed brokers.
- IH SecuritiesSECZIM-licensed stockbroker.
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 primary listed window onto Zimbabwe’s formal economy, covering the brewers, telecoms operators and agro-processors that dominate domestic consumption. For local investors it has also served as an inflation hedge, since equity prices tend to reprice as the currency weakens.
Why companies choose to list on it
To raise local-currency capital, obtain a public valuation, broaden the shareholder base and meet indigenisation or governance expectations. A listing also provides an established mechanism for employee share schemes and for founders to realise value.
Investor eligibility
Open to Zimbabwean residents and, subject to exchange-control rules administered by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, to foreign investors. Foreign shareholding is subject to statutory limits per counter, and repatriation of proceeds depends on prevailing exchange-control approvals — historically the main practical constraint for offshore investors.
Interesting facts
- It is one of Africa’s oldest exchanges, dating to the mining boom of the 1890s.
- During the hyperinflation of the 2000s it was among the fastest-rising indices in the world in nominal terms while losing value in real terms — a standard illustration of why nominal returns must be deflated.
- Trading was moved to an automated system in 2015, replacing the open-outcry call-over method used for decades.
- Several counters have migrated to the VFEX to access US-dollar settlement, making the two exchanges directly complementary.
Official sources