SMEs new secondary bourse starts in September

THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange will start the listing of Small-to-Medium Enterprises on a new secondary bourse by next September 30.

In October last year, the ZSE announced they were working on establishing a bourse for SMEs to provide easier access to capital markets to raise funds to support their growth.

One major challenge for the SMEs was funding, as they did not qualify to be listed on the ZSE, on its current listing rules. ZSE operations executive Mr Martin Matanda said they were working on coming up with a framework for the bourse.

"At the moment, we are planning on holding workshops with the SMEs in conjunction with the SME Association, so that we can have further input from the potential users of the rules," said Mr Matanda.

He said there was need to strike a balance in terms of the listing requirements for the SMEs, while maintaining the integrity of the current official list.
Once the SME bourse was up and running, the ZSE would become the main board.

Mr Matanda said although the listing criteria may be slightly different, the rules would be the same in terms of continuing obligations.

SME Association of Zimbabwe president Mr Farai Mutambanengwe said the creation of the SMEs bourse was important as it would fast-track the transformation of the medium-sized enterprises into large corporations.

"We are making good progress on that project," he said. "To date the rules have been worked on, and are in the process of going through the necessary approvals at the ZSE."

He said if the procedural issues were dealt with in good time, there would be SMEs ready to list by September.

"Our role in this partnership is to drive awareness of the process of listing, and to come up with suitable candidates, of which there are already a number. We will also host workshops and one-on-one meetings with potential candidates, to ensure they have a full understanding of what the process entails," he said.

SMEs had to take advantage of the benefits of listing, which included an increased market share in their sectors, resulting from a business profile of national and international standard.

"SMEs would also have access to broader and better skills and extra skills injection and it would be easier for them to access other forms of funding, such as loans, due to the higher credit rating assigned to listed entities," he said.

Mr Mutambanengwe noted that the main issue in terms of the rules was to scale down fees and the minimum number of shareholders allowed to cater for the smaller size of the SMEs.