Harare, June 2026 – The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Limited (ZSE) and the National Venture Capital Company of Zimbabwe (NVCCZ) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a structured link between Zimbabwe’s early-stage venture capital ecosystem and the capital markets, positioning the Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Exchange as the regulated endpoint for scaling enterprises.
The agreement recognizes that moving from startup to scale requires more than single-stage funding. It demands a continuum of capital, governance support, and market access. Through the MOU, ZSE and NVCCZ will jointly construct that continuum, with ZEEX serving as the platform toward which NVCCZ-supported businesses can progress.
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Book NowMr. Justin Bgoni, Group CEO of ZSE Holdings Limited, said: “Venture capital and capital markets have historically operated in separate worlds in Zimbabwe, with very little structured dialogue between the two. This MOU with NVCCZ is a deliberate effort to change that. By creating a recognised pathway from NVCCZ’s portfolio of early-stage enterprises to ZEEX, we are introducing capital market planning into the venture space. Entrepreneurs who receive NVCCZ support will now see, from day one, a credible and well-defined route to public market participation.”
ZSE and NVCCZ will jointly identify high-potential startups and SMEs already funded or supported by NVCCZ that may qualify for listing on ZEEX. The partners will develop structured graduation pathways from early-stage venture financing to full capital market participation, with clear eligibility and quality criteria for each transition.
The parties will explore co-investment models enabling NVCCZ-supported enterprises to access supplementary capital through ZEEX. Work will also begin on structuring blended finance mechanisms that combine public venture funding with private market capital.
Joint training programs will cover corporate governance, financial reporting standards, investor readiness, and ZEEX listing requirements. Targeted advisory support will prepare selected enterprises for compliance and listing.
Activities will include joint awareness campaigns, co-hosted investor roadshows and SME financing conferences, and the development of sector-focused financing platforms to broaden investor and issuer participation.
ZSE and NVCCZ will explore new financial instruments suited to venture and growth capital, including SME bond programs, green and sustainability-linked instruments, digital or alternative listing platforms, and structured SME funds.
Mr. Tinotenda Kambasha, CEO of NVCCZ, said: “Successful venture investing is not only about providing capital — it is about supporting businesses throughout their entire growth journey. Our partnership with ZSE creates a clear pathway from early-stage funding to capital market participation, ensuring that promising enterprises have access to long-term growth opportunities. Through ZEEX, NVCCZ’s venture investments will have a strategic exit route that strengthens investor participation, value realization, improved liquidity, and recycling of capital into the next generation of high-impact Zimbabwean businesses.”
He added that the partnership is key to strengthening entrepreneurship, driving innovation, creating employment, and contributing to sustainable industrialisation and economic growth.
The formal operationalisation of ZEEX remains on track. The growing network of institutional and finance partners signing MOUs with ZSE reflects broad-based support instrumental to the successful launch of the exchange.
ZEEX is a newly approved platform designed to integrate venture-backed and growth-stage instruments into a regulated, transparent ecosystem. The exchange aims to boost compliance, broaden the investor base, and provide a compliant, lower-cost channel for local companies to raise capital and for investors to trade those instruments.
NVCCZ is a state-owned venture fund established as a strategic investment vehicle to support and commercialise innovation start-ups by providing financing and platforms to materialise transformative innovation and foster economic growth.
ZSE operates Zimbabwe’s main securities exchange and is leading the development of ZEEX to deepen market access for emerging enterprises.
