Nqobile Bhebhe, Zimpapers Business Hub
ZIMBABWEAN youths are increasingly keen on investing in the country’s capital markets, but a lack of adequate information and financial literacy is hindering their participation despite growing access to digital trading platforms.
Retail investor Mr Daniel Nharaunda said while platforms such as the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) Direct, Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) Direct and C-Trade had simplified access to investment opportunities, many potential investors still lacked the knowledge needed to understand available products and make informed investment decisions.
Speaking during the ongoing Financial Markets Stakeholder Summit in Bulawayo, Mr Nharaunda said the challenge was no longer entirely about accessing the market, but ensuring that ordinary people understood how it worked and the opportunities available to them.
“The ZSE Direct, VFEX Direct and C-Trade platforms are giving us access to the market. It is now easy and I do not have to go elsewhere to invest.
“I simply need my phone and an internet connection. I can upload my documents, and hopefully, they can be verified in under three minutes, then we are ready to go,” he said.
However, he said the growing accessibility of trading platforms needed to be supported by sustained public education to address the information gap discouraging potential investors.
Mr Nharaunda said many ordinary Zimbabweans were only beginning to understand stock market investments, making financial literacy critical in broadening participation.
“Remember, we are coming from a point where the average person did not even know about stocks. We are therefore as youths not well informed in terms of what all this is about,” he said.
He said discussions with potential investors indicated growing interest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), followed by investments in individual listed companies.
“When we asked what investors wanted, we posed the question last week: Are they interested in a single stock or a REIT?
“Young people are very keen on investing in REITs and ETFs, followed by single stocks,” he said.
Mr Nharaunda said addressing information asymmetry was essential to converting this interest into meaningful participation, calling on capital market institutions and other stakeholders to work together in disseminating investment information.
“So, it is about information. Information asymmetry is killing us out there. If we could have as much information out there as possible, it would make a significant difference among the youths and capital markets,” he said.
Greater youth participation would help broaden the domestic investor base, improve market liquidity and deepen Zimbabwe’s capital markets, while giving young people opportunities to participate in wealth creation through formal investment channels.
Mr Nharaunda urged stakeholders to work collectively in expanding public awareness, emphasising the importance of taking investment knowledge beyond existing market participants.
“Let’s work together and inform the nation,” he said.
