Since the launch of VFEX in 2020, trading has mainly been dominated by institutional investors, and from the feedback received, retail investors would also like to participate in the VFEX. In the press release, VFEX CEO Justin Bgoni said VFEX Direct was mainly developed with retail investors in mind.

VFEX Direct will be accessible through the web portal and mobile application (Google Play Store and Apple App Store).

Investors wishing to participate through VFEX Direct will be required to hold an FCA (Nostro) account with any Zimbabwean bank.

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This is specifically in the case of South Africa, which has enjoyed the most benefit from the mining sector in the southern region. This benefit translated into further foreign direct investment flows of more than US$ 40 billion in 2021 alone, up from US$ 3 billion in 2020.

This is in contrast with Zimbabwe, which has been an investment pariah for the last two decades. Zimbabwe has not appropriated as much from its mining sector relative to South Africa, especially when viewed through the foreign direct investment lens. According to its central bank, the country garnered foreign direct investment proceeds of US$ 103 million for the year.

Regardless of the poor showing in FDI terms, the country has recorded a 33% rise in export earnings driven primarily by the mining industry to US$ 5.45 billion. This is to show that the mining sector is central to southern Africa’s economic development.

The World Bank estimated the value added in Gabon’s agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors to be 6.404 per cent of GDP in 2020, a good sign to invest in Gabon.

Gabon imports the bulk of its cereal requirements through commercial channels, with cereal imports accounting for approximately 90 per cent of the total cereal utilization.  Imports of cereals in 2021 were estimated at a slightly below-average level of 171,000 tons, including about 110,000 tons of wheat and 55,000 tons of rice.

Gabon is facing escalating agricultural food prices, especially wheat since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.  To keep domestic wheat prices below 25,000 CFA, the government formally budgeted a subsidy of 4,700 CFA (US$7.55) per 50-kg bag to the country’s wheat importers, led by France’s Société Meunière et Avicole du Gabon company.

Economically the World Bank categorizes São Tomé and Príncipe as a lower middle-income state with what it calls a fragile economy.

This is not a mischaracterization as the country relies heavily on the tourism sector, making it much more susceptible to external and exogenous shocks. This assertion is confirmed by the African Development Bank, which reported in its economic outlook on São Tomé and Príncipe that the country’s economy shrank by an estimated 6.4% in 2020 after growing by 2.2% in 2018 and 1.3% in 2019.

Will Ghana’s stance on value addition resonate in Africa?

For the first time in a decade, the contraction in output is attributed to a sharp decline in tourism and service sectors, which were severely hurt by weak external and domestic demand and COVID–19 containment measures.