ZSE targets 30 SMEs for ZEEX exchange
TAFADZWA CHINYANGANYA
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) Holdings has identified more than 30 prospective issuers for its new Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Exchange (ZEEX), which is targeting at least US$10 million in invoice financing by year-end to ease working capital constraints facing small businesses.
Designed to help enterprises access capital at different stages of growth, ZEEX seeks to unlock funds tied up in unpaid invoices while creating a pathway for small businesses to enter formal capital markets.
Speaking at the ZEEX Connect Supply Chain Finance Forum in Harare on Thursday, ZSE Holdings group chief executive Justin Bgoni said more than 30 prospective issuers and over 15 sponsor advisers had been identified for the platform.
Bgoni said ZEEX would operate through private and public markets, enabling businesses to raise capital privately before progressing to public listings and eventually graduating to the main boards of the ZSE or Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).
“ZEEX acts as the incubator and feeder exchange for Zimbabwe’s broader capital markets,” Bgoni said.
The initiative comes as many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggle to secure affordable financing from conventional lenders, partly because they lack the collateral and formal structures required by banks.
Through its private market, ZEEX will enable businesses to raise capital through the ZEEX Direct platform and Deal Room, connecting eligible enterprises with qualified investors.
Its public market will provide a dedicated listed board for SMEs, opening investment opportunities to retail and institutional investors while giving growing businesses access to larger pools of capital.
A key component is the invoice discounting marketplace, which will allow suppliers to secure financing against approved invoices instead of waiting 30, 60 or 90 days for payment.
Under the model, suppliers upload approved invoices, financiers compete to discount them, and buyers settle the invoices at maturity.
The arrangement is expected to ease cash-flow pressures on businesses that have delivered goods or services but are yet to receive payment.
Bgoni said Zimplow Holdings and Windmill Private Limited were among the receivables originators being engaged for the platform.
He added that debt issuances would be supported by a Bond Holding Company established to hold collateral on behalf of investors, creating a framework for secured debt, asset-backed securities and supply-chain financing.
However, CBZ Holdings group chief executive Lawrence Nyazema said the initiative’s success would depend on securing commitments from large corporate buyers and ensuring financiers were ready to fund approved invoices.
“The capital is available,” Nyazema said.
He said the banking sector held US$7.1 billion in deposits as of August 2026, compared with US$3.79 billion in loans, while pension funds held about US$3.47 billion.
Nyazema said the challenge was connecting available capital to productive businesses, particularly smaller suppliers whose funds remained tied up in outstanding receivables.
“For an SME supplier, the dead capital is the receivable. The goods are delivered, the invoice is valid, the buyer is sound, yet the cash sits 30, 60 or 90 days away,” he said.
Invoice-based financing, he added, could shift lending decisions away from the assets owned by small businesses towards the strength of their commercial relationships with established buyers.
“Lenders will ask less what you own and more whom you sell to,” Nyazema said.
He proposed a Leadership Compact centred on three priorities: securing commitments from large corporate buyers, establishing a funding pool from banks and pension funds to finance confirmed invoices from the outset, and clarifying regulations to recognise invoices as investable assets.
With these measures in place, Nyazema said ZEEX’s initial target of US$10 million in invoices by year-end could become a starting point rather than a ceiling.
He also called for policies that reward businesses for formalising, arguing that access to finance could provide a stronger incentive than enforcement measures alone.
ZEEX’s broader ambition is to create a structured progression for enterprises, from informal businesses relying on family capital to privately funded companies, publicly listed SMEs and, ultimately, firms capable of meeting the requirements of the ZSE or VFEX main boards.
Bgoni said ZSE Holdings had signed five institutional partnerships in the previous four months, including agreements with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (SMEDCO), Invesci and Red Sphere Finance, as it builds the ecosystem needed to support the platform.
ZEEX will operate on a fully dematerialised system, with funds settling through the ZEEX Trust and investor entitlements recorded electronically at the depository.
The platform is intended to widen access to capital markets while helping businesses strengthen governance, attract investment and expand their operations.
