THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Holdings (ZSE Holdings) is doubling down on real estate investment trusts (REITs) expansion and fresh listings to bolster market activity, chief executive officer Justin Bgoni (pictured) said this week.
With three REITs already listed, Bgoni projected “one or two more this year,” including a potential August or September entrant.
On listings, he stressed their importance, calling them “exciting” for the exchange and underscoring ongoing outreach efforts to attract new issuers.
ZSE Holdings owns and operates both the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), which trades in local currency, and the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX), a USD-denominated bourse.
“So, we now have three REITs and we expect one or two also to come this year. So, for us, the REITs are our answer to the property pressure that we are getting,” Bgoni told businessdigest in an interview.
“You can have exposure to property through REITs, and it actually makes more sense. We are expecting at least one next August or September, and another one at the end of the year.”
Zimbabwe currently has three listed REITs — Tigere and Revitus on the ZSE, and Eagle REIT on the VFEX.
“We are always working hard to get new listings. New listings are the lifeblood of an exchange, and the new listings excite the exchange. So, we are doing a lot of work, reaching out,” Bgoni said.
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ZSE Holdings is also trying to get precious metals as well as base metals to trade on its platforms while also looking at future trading.
The ZSE Holdings chief said investors in Zimbabwe prefer property due to uncertainty in the market.
“They are uncertain about the changing currency and everything. But, as I said, they are also over-concentrated on equities,” he said.
“The way we want to expose them to property is in terms of rates. I think Tigere is proving that you can achieve exposure to property through the market.”
In his recent investment notes, Imara chairperson John Legat noted that too many pension funds were heavily weighted toward property, which he felt was overvalued.
Bgoni said alternative assets had not been written down to reflect reality and with no clear exit mechanism in place, leaving the only liquid assets as the money market.
The company is also working hard on the commodity exchange.
