Zimbabwe Stock Exchange

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, or ZSE, is a small but active stock exchange in Africa. It has been open to foreign investment since 1993. It has about a dozen members and over 65 listed securities. There are two indices, the Zimbabwe Industrial Index and the Zimbabwe Mining Index.



History
The first stock exchange in Zimbabwe opened its doors shortly after the arrival of the Pioneer Column in Bulawayo in 1896. It was however only operative for about 6 years. Other stock exchanges were established in Gwelo (Gweru) and Umtali (Mutare). The Mutare Exchange, also opened in 1896, thrived on the success of local mining, but with the realisation that deposits in the area were not extensive, activity declined and it closed in 1924. After World War II a new exchange was founded in Bulawayo by Alfred Mulock Bentley and dealing started in January 1946.


A second floor was opened in Salisbury (Harare) in December 1951 and trading between the two centres was done by telephone. Traders continued working by telephone until it was decided that legislation should be enacted to govern the rights and obligations of the members of the Exchange and the general investing public.



The Rhodesia Stock Exchange Act reached the statute book in January 1974. The members of the Exchange continued to trade as before and it became necessary for legal reasons to bring into being a new Exchange coincidental with the passing of the legislation. The Exchange dates from the passing of the Act in 1974, and is operated and regulated in accordance with it and its amendments, including 1996's Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Act: Chapter 24:18.



On independence from Britain in 1980, the Exchange changed its name from the Rhodesia to the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.