The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX), represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Justin Bgoni, has outlined a series of investment pathways designed to attract regional and global capital inflows. Speaking at the Investment Conference convened by the Financial Markets Indaba in partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ), Bgoni highlighted VFEX’s growing role as a bridge between Zimbabwe’s domestic financial landscape and international markets .
Established in 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), VFEX was conceived as a strategic offshore market anchored in Victoria Falls, a Special Economic Zone with both geographic and regulatory advantages. Since its inception, the exchange has introduced a spectrum of instruments including equities, fixed-income products, exchange-traded funds, debt notes, and real estate investment vehicles, providing issuers with cost-effective capital-raising mechanisms and investors with exposure to diversified asset classes .
In his remarks, Bgoni underscored that VFEX is more than a trading venue; it is an integrated financial ecosystem designed to mitigate currency exposure, streamline access to information, and reduce transaction costs. He added that exemptions from certain taxes and preferential treatment of dividends further enhance VFEX’s competitiveness against its regional peers, particularly exchanges in Johannesburg, Nairobi, and Lagos, which have long served as conduits for pan-African investment flows.
“VFEX is creating an environment where investors can participate in Zimbabwe’s growth story with confidence, while issuers gain access to efficient and cost-effective capital raising solutions,” Bgoni said .
The exchange has attracted issuers across mining, tourism, and education, sectors which remain central to Zimbabwe’s development agenda but also resonate with regional growth drivers. For instance, mining continues to dominate African export earnings, tourism links regional economies through cross-border value chains, and education remains a pillar for sustainable human capital development.
VFEX is also aligned with the planned Victoria Falls International Financial Services Centre (VFIFSC) and the forthcoming Commodity Exchange. These platforms are expected to deepen financial intermediation and attract global service providers, including banks, asset managers, insurers, and fintech firms, who view Southern Africa as an underleveraged growth market. Beyond core financial services, the exchange’s expansion is expected to catalyse opportunities in infrastructure, real estate, and corporate services, with potential spill-over effects into innovation-driven sectors.
The exchange’s model mirrors broader trends across Africa, where capital markets are being repositioned to support industrialisation, digitalisation, and regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). By offering transparent governance, strong regulatory oversight, and investor protection measures, VFEX seeks to ensure that both institutional and diaspora investors can commit long-term capital with confidence.
While Zimbabwe continues to navigate macroeconomic headwinds, VFEX has positioned itself as a mechanism to attract hard currency inflows, restore investor confidence, and connect the country to Africa’s wider financial architecture. Its development illustrates how smaller, innovation-oriented exchanges can contribute to regional capital markets integration and foster sustainable pathways for growth.
