Business Reporter
Foreign investors and major financiers are showing renewed interest in Zimbabwe, fuelling a dramatic rebound in international market confidence that promises to transform the nation’s capital markets through the newly established Zimbabwe Entrepreneur Exchange (ZEEX).
Delivering his keynote address on the final day of the landmark three-day Strategic Intelligence Forum hosted by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) in partnership with Zimpapers, on Friday, Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) chief executive officer Mr Justin Bgoni said foreign investor engagement experienced a complete turnaround over the past year.
Reflecting on past macroeconomic difficulties, Mr Bgoni noted a stark contrast between previous investor interactions and the current influx of global capital.
“In 2019, 2020, I used to have horrible meetings with foreign investors, where people would walk out and say, ‘Justin, we’ve never seen anything like this, we’re never coming to Zimbabwe again,’” Mr Bgoni recalled. “And for the past 12 months, we have had a lot of meetings with foreign investors who want to come back to Zimbabwe. We are talking about people with serious money behind them.”
This surge in international and domestic confidence has created an unexpected liquidity surplus for ZEEX, where available capital supply outpaces the immediate speed of the platform’s rollout.
ZEEX is a regulated digital capital-raising and stock exchange platform built specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and high-growth entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe.
Launched in July 2026 and housed within ZSE Holdings, it is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe.
“To be honest with you, at the moment, our challenge is not the money,” Mr Bgoni said.
“Our challenge at the moment is actually getting the money that we have committed to the platform into the hands of entrepreneurs. The biggest surprise is that there is so much money and commitment around this platform.”
Mr Bgoni framed ZEEX as an essential growth engine for ambitious enterprises across the economy.
“If you are looking to raise money and you are an entrepreneur, give us a try,” he said.
“You put your business out there, sell it to investors, you get credibility, you can grow and it helps your governance.”
This international interest aligns with broader national economic indicators.
A central driver of the market interest in ZEEX is its upcoming Invoice Discounting Exchange, designed to allow suppliers to secure immediate cash flow by discounting invoices through competitive bidding among multiple institutional financiers.
Major institutional backers have already pledged up to US$200 million towards the feature.
“We have commitments of up to US$200 million,” Mr Bgoni said.
“The financier is not financing the small company; they are actually financing the big company if you think of it effectively. That’s why there’s so much interest in this and that’s why there’s so much money around it.”
The enthusiasm from domestic businesses seeking capital through ZEEX has been equally intense.
Small to medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for roughly 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s economy, have historically struggled to access traditional capital markets built for large corporate entities.
While ZEEX was designed to offer both a private funding window and a public listing route, demand for public listings has far exceeded original forecasts.
More than 30 companies are working through the pipeline, with roughly 70 percent seeking a public listing rather than remaining private.
ZEEX expects its debut listing on the market between late October and early November.
“What has surprised us a lot is that about 70 percent of them want to list, that’s the part that surprised us,” Mr Bgoni said.
“We thought a lot of people would come to just raise money and not list, but people are coming to list.”
To accommodate the demand, ZEEX has widened its network of official sponsors to 15, incorporating certified accountants and legal practitioners, alongside stockbrokers.
Strategic MoUs have also been established with asset managers, commercial banks and funds such as the National Venture Financing Fund.
In addition, ZEEX will deploy tokenisation technology for instant transaction settlements, surpassing the traditional two-day (T+2) cycle on the main ZSE and VFEX boards.
Government policy continues to adapt to support this enterprise growth.
Addressing the same forum, Deputy Minister of Finance Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, highlighted that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose from US$596,7 million in 2024 to US$964,9 million in 2025, alongside 871 investment licences approved by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA).
Furthermore, ZIDA recorded over US$1,4 billion in investment commitments in the first quarter of 2026 alone, demonstrating that the appetite for Zimbabwean assets is expanding rapidly.
Deputy Minister Mnangagwa emphasised the Treasury’s commitment to lowering compliance barriers for emerging firms as Zimbabwe prepares for National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2: 2026–2030).
“A startup employing three people should not carry the same administrative burden as a corporation employing thousands,” Deputy Minister Mnangagwa said.
“Our task is to make compliance proportionate, transparent and efficient.”
He said formalisation should be viewed not as a tax trap, but as a “gateway to finance, larger procurement contracts and export markets.”
