US$100M ZIM GOVT BOND TO HIT MARKET BY DECEMBER

HARARE – The government will launch the US$100 million bond on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) by the end of this year to mobilise more resources for critical public infrastructural development projects across the country.

VFEX is a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange established to kick start the Offshore Financial Services Centre, which is earmarked for the special economic zone in Victoria Falls, the country’s prime tourism hub.

The exchange was established in 2020. Its trading currency is in United States dollars.

The Second Republic has prioritised infrastructure development in rebuilding the economy. Among the targeted infrastructure projects are roads, dams, education and health institutions, public administration and local authority offices.

After nearly two decades of stagnation, Zimbabwe’s economic recovery is benefitting immensely from the government’s massive public infrastructure development projects such as trunk roads rehabilitation and dam construction. In a recent interview, Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube said the guarantor for the bond had approved a support structure for the fund to improve the credit standing of the facility and lower the risk profile.

“Investors should be happy with that. That approval process is now going to its final phase, so we expect that certainly by year-end that bond will be launched and we will be able to raise US$100 million,” he said.

Sometime this year, Prof Ncube attended a meeting with international investors in Washington DC where he invited global investors to participate in the US$100 million VFEX bond.