Omega Ukama 
THE Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) will be extending trading hours by an hour starting January 1, 2022.
Both exchanges have been trading for two hours, from 1000 hours to 1200 hours.
In separate statements last week, ZSE chief executive Justin Bgoni said both exchanges will now be trading until 1300 hours.
“This will probably see volumes on both exchanges going up because an extension of an hour is quite significant,” Enock Rukarwa, an investment analyst with FBC Securities told The Financial Gazette this week.
The change was likely motivated by suggestions tabled by members of the ZSE in October, according to a local stock broker.
The pre-open session on both exchanges will now run from 0900 hours to 0930 hours, while continuous trading will be from 0930 hours to 1300 hours, and the post-close session will run from 1300 hours to 1330 hours.
The changes also come as the VFEX, which was launched last October, has come to life after an uptick in activity.
Initial trading on VFEX was so slow that Seed Co International (Seed Co) – the first counter on the exchange – had slumped to a 15 percent discount by June 2021, compared to its price on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).
Activity on the market, however, picked up in the third quarter, increasing 15-fold as Padenga Holdings joined.
The VFEX has maintained this relatively high activity through the fourth quarter, with Seed Co gaining about 34 percent since June to close yesterday at US$0,28.
In comparison, Seed Co has been flat at 2,7 pula (US$0,23) since May on the BSE, having been involved in only five trades during the period.
Meanwhile, interest in the exchange has also been growing on the listings front.
VFEX has added a third listing – Caledonia Mining Corporation – while a fourth is expected before year-end, with the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange having instituted a securities halt on Bindura Nickel Corporation’s (BNC) shares a fortnight ago to allow its migration to the VFEX.
BNC is expected to move to the VFEX on December 31, 2021 after shareholders approved the migration at an extraordinary general meeting last week.
