First Capital Bank officially joins VFEX today

Leonard Ncube

REGISTERED commercial bank, First Capital, is expected to officially list its shares on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) today.

The bank announced recently plans to delist from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and list on the United States dollar-denominated bourse located in the country’s tourism capital.

The bank announced the delisting following its extraordinary general meeting at which the shareholders gave the entity the greenlight to list at VFEX.

This week the bank sent invites to stakeholders for its listing ceremony in Victoria Falls today.

“Please find invitation to our official launch on Friday, the 19th of May 2023,” said the bank.

It noted that the potential increase in the US dollar earnings increases the shareholders’ expectation to receive their return in US dollars through US dollar dividends and US dollar capital gains on share disposal, which the VFEX offers in comparison to the ZSE.

VFEX, launched in October 2020 is a subsidiary of the ZSE established to kick start the Offshore Financial Services Centre (OFSC) earmarked for the special economic zone in Victoria Falls.

It is part of efforts to attract global capital and restore foreign investor confidence in Zimbabwe’s capital markets and help companies raise capital in foreign currency.

The fast-growing USD-denominated stock exchange already with 11 listings, has been offering various incentives that include Government’s increase in the retention ratio for exporters listed on the VFEX to 100 percent, which has been an attractive factor for companies.

The platform enables companies in Zimbabwe, the Sadc region and the rest of Africa to raise capital in foreign currency.

All international companies invested in Zimbabwe can seek listing on VFEX. The Government has committed that the VFEX will remain a foreign exchange market in line with Vision 2030, which requires a lot of foreign investment as the country needs a vehicle that will make it attractive to foreign investors hence the VFEX, which has tax benefits.