Zimbabwe’s dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange plans to raise its market value by 25% over the next year as it expands into new products and prepares to launch a venture board for junior mining and exploration companies.

“We are currently on the $4 billion mark, and we will work hard to reach $5 billion” over the next 12 months, Victoria Falls Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Justin Bgoni said in an interview Thursday in Victoria Falls, about 550 kilometers (342 miles) east of Harare.

The exchange is seeking to broaden its appeal beyond conventional equities by adding products such as real estate investment trusts and exchange-traded funds.

“Our focus is on product diversification and ensuring that we get more listings not just from equities,” Bgoni said. “This year we managed to witness the second REIT listing and the first ETF.”

The comments came ahead of the listing of Old Mutual, Africa’s largest insurer by assets, which became the exchange’s 21st listing on Aug. 7.

VFEX targets junior miners

The VFEX, established in 2020 during a currency crisis, overtook the 132-year-old Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in market value in March after billionaire Strive Masiyiwa transferred telecommunications infrastructure company Econet InfraCo to the platform at a $1 billion valuation.

As a subsidiary of ZSE Holdings Limited, the VFEX is based in Victoria Falls and trades, settles and pays dividends entirely in U.S. dollars. The structure is designed to give investors protection from swings in Zimbabwe’s local currency while supporting foreign investment and capital raising within the Victoria Falls Special Economic Zone.

The exchange has added four new listings this year against a target of six, Bgoni said. It is also working on a venture board that would give smaller companies an alternative source of funding.

The platform will serve as a “dedicated capital-raising platform for junior and exploration-stage companies, with an initial focus on the mining and natural resources sectors,” Bgoni said.

Zimbabwe is Africa’s largest lithium producer and also has significant deposits of platinum, gold and other minerals, giving the planned market a potential pipeline of mining companies seeking capital.

New products, wealth management

Beyond listings, the VFEX wants to help develop a broader wealth management industry in Zimbabwe.

“We are expecting some international ETFs, locally we have seen a lot of interest in REITs especially developmental,” Bgoni said. He added that there is also “a lot of interest in infrastructure bonds from financial institutions.”

The push comes as the VFEX seeks to build a wider range of investment products and attract more companies and investors to Zimbabwe’s dollar-based capital market.