Carte Blanche with Perry

Ritesh Anand The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange recently anounced that plans are already underway to re-introduce a bond market/fixed income securities market after it collapse in 2001. This can be seen as a positive development to further deepen Zimbabwe`s financial markets. However, there are certain risks that  such a move may bring and I sought the insights of renowned market analyst, Ritesh Anand to better understand the implications of the bond market revival. Ritesh Anand is the founder and Managing Director of Invictus Capital, a boutique investment banking platform providing securities trading, corporate advisory, and asset management services in Zimbabwe. He has over 18 years experience in fund management, entrepreneurship, emerging markets, and private equity. I asked Ritesh a couple of questions, and below are his responses.   What will be the role of the bond market in Zimbabwe’s financial market if re-introduced? Zimbabwe is a bank based economy – ...

Zimbabwe`s fixed-income market is poised for a rebirth, following a protracted absence in the southern-African country`s financial markets. The last bond trading activity was in 2001, coinciding with the start of economic turmoil in the country,spanning over a decade – a period now known as the “lost decade.” During this time, together with other economic sectors, Zimbabwe`s debt market was one of the many casualties, eventually capitulating around 2001. Before that, Zimbabwe had a robust fixed-income market with significant bond issuances by government and local authorities in the 1990s. In recent times,Zimbabwean companies have had to resort to short-term and often expensive funding like bank loans. However, an acute liquidity crunch and the lack of cheap loans in the economy, has made this into a near herculean task for most Zimbabwean companies facing working capital shortages. These companies are also in dire need of capital for retooling. Even with the adoption of t...