THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (SMEDCO) have partnered to expand funding options for startups and small businesses through the planned Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Exchange (ZEEX), aiming to bridge a longstanding financing gap in the sector.
The partnership comes as Zimbabwe looks to improve access to finance for SMEs, which account for a significant share of economic activity.
A 2022 FinScope survey estimated that nearly two million MSMEs generated US$14,2 billion in annual turnover, while official data shows more than three-quarters of the country’s businesses operate informally.
The memorandum of understanding, announced on Tuesday, will combine SMEDCO’s network of SMEs with the ZSE’s capital markets infrastructure to create alternative financing channels for emerging businesses that often struggle to secure bank funding.
“SMEDCO brings something that no purely commercial partner can replicate — a development mandate that is fundamentally aligned with the inclusive vision of ZEEX. This partnership is about more than capital markets; it is about economic transformation,” ZSE Holdings chief executive officer Justin Bgoni said.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency’s 2025 Economic Census, the country had 204 798 operational establishments, of which 76,1% were informal.
Of the nearly 49 000 formally registered establishments, only 51 companies are listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.
The two institutions said the partnership would also support business formalisation, governance improvements and investment readiness as part of preparations for participation on ZEEX.
“By combining SMEDCO’s reach into Zimbabwe’s grassroots enterprise sector with the regulatory framework and infrastructure of the ZSE, we are constructing a genuine on-ramp for businesses that have long been locked out of formal financing,” Bgoni said.
SMEDCO chief executive officer Obert Ngwenya said limited access to finance remained one of the biggest constraints facing startups and SMEs.
“This partnership with the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange marks an important step towards creating sustainable financing pathways for emerging enterprises that have the potential to drive economic growth, innovation and job creation,” Ngwenya said.
“Through ZEEX, we are not only expanding access to capital, but also supporting businesses to formalise, strengthen their governance structures and become investment-ready.”-newsday