VFEX market capitalisation surpasses US$7bn

TARISAI MAKUNI

On August 13, 2026, the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) revised its market capitalisation methodology for cross-listed issuers, triggering a near doubling of its reported market value to US$7.74bn.

Under the revised methodology, the VFEX now calculates the market capitalisation of cross-listed companies by multiplying their total global issued shares by the local share price, rather than counting only shares registered on the local bourse.

Old Mutual Limited alone accounted for US$3.61bn, or 46.63%, of the exchange’s reported market capitalisation.

While the adjustment creates a dramatic headline figure, it does not represent an influx of fresh capital or an immediate improvement in market liquidity.

The VFEX said the revised approach aligns its reporting with international conventions, improving transparency, consistency and comparability when assessing an issuer’s market size and global standing.

The change could also improve the visibility of VFEX counters on institutional market screeners and potentially expand the investment limits available to local fund managers.

However, a higher market capitalisation does not automatically translate into deeper trading activity.

For the VFEX, the more fundamental issue remains order-book liquidity. Trading turnover depends on active bid-and-ask matching, investor participation and sustained foreign-currency inflows.

A cross-listed company with a multi-billion-dollar global valuation can still have wide bid-ask spreads and thin daily turnover on the local market.

This creates a potential vulnerability. If a thinly traded security experiences a sharp price movement following a relatively small retail order, that local price is multiplied across the company’s entire global share base.

A seemingly minor movement in the VFEX share price could therefore produce a substantial change in reported market capitalisation, potentially running into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Over time, however, greater trading activity should improve price discovery and reduce the risk that short-term price movements materially distort the reported value of large cross-listed companies.

The VFEX has also retained a regulatory safeguard, allowing it to request additional information or apply alternative valuation methodologies where necessary. The provision gives the exchange a mechanism to respond to anomalous price movements, extreme illiquidity, erroneous price prints or potential market manipulation.

The revised methodology marks an important evolution in the VFEX’s market architecture. Aligning its market capitalisation reporting with global conventions improves the visibility of listed companies and provides investors with a clearer measure of the exchange’s overall scale.

But the bigger market-capitalisation number is only the starting point.

For the VFEX to convert its expanded headline value into meaningful market depth, it will need sustained economic stability, efficient hard-currency dividend settlement, stronger investor participation and deeper secondary-market trading.

The revised methodology establishes a clearer baseline for the exchange’s true size. The bigger challenge now is ensuring market turnover catches up with it.