Foreigners flee from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange

Foreign buyers are deserting the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in record numbers, with net outflows of US$56,28 million recorded in the 10 months to October, from US$305 714  recorded during the same period last year.

According to the ZSE, this is the biggest sell-off since 2011. A barometer of investor sentiment, the ZSE has been drifting lower in recent months as foreign investors, who have carried the market in the absence of local investors, continue to leave the market.  

During the past three years, foreign investors have made up over 60 percent of ZSE trades. The decline in foreign participation on the bourse is a result of a number of factors, which include government's introduction of bond notes, and a weak economy and delays in settling cross-border transactions by local banks.

Meanwhile, integrated financial services group, Old Mutual Zimbabwe says it is seeking to list on the country's first alternative trading platform, Financial Securities Exchange.

OMZ is owned 75 percent by Old Mutual Plc while 25 percent is set to be owned by indigenous persons and will be traded on the Finsec trading platform. The shares will be listed on December 1, 2016.