The Lusaka Securities Exchange (abbreviated to LuSE) is the principal

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and Zambia's designated agency for issuing International Securities Identification Numbers (ISIN). Founded in 1993, it is located in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

, in 2020 the Exchange incorporated a subsidiary called th
Lusaka Clearing and Settlement Agency (LCSA)
This was part of the strategy to serve the market in a more efficient and effective manner. The LCSA is an entity that provides depository services that include automated delivery, clearing and settlement services. The LuSE is a member of the African Stock Exchanges Association
Committee of SADC Stock ExchangesAssociation of National Numbering AgenciesCapital Markets Association of ZambiaAfrican Natural Capital Alliance
As of April 2025, the LuSE had 20 listed companies with a

market capitalisation Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

of ZMW 276.7 billion (US$9.8 billion).

History

The Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) was established with preparatory technical assistance from the

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...

(IFC) and the

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in 1993. The Exchange opened on 21 February 1994. In its first two years of operations, the LuSE and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were funded by the

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

and Government of Zambia as a project for financial and capital market development in Zambia, under the multi-component private sector development program. The formation of LuSE was part of the government's economic reform program aimed at developing the financial and capital market in order to support an
enhance private sector initiative
It was also expected to attract foreign portfolio investment through recognition of Zambia and the region as an emerging capital market with potentially high investment returns. Another important role of LuSE was to facilitate the divestiture of Government ownership in parastatals and realization of the objectives of creating a broad and wid
shareholding ownership
by the citizenry via a fair and transparent process. The 1972 Securities Act revised to facilitate the establishment of the Securities Exchange. It was structured around models of a modern Stock Exchange with automated clearing and settlement facilities through a Central Securities Depository (CSD). The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) provided grant financing to LuSE from 1993 till 2009. Subsequently, GRZ stopped providing support and LuSE became totally dependent on its listed companies to generate operational revenues. The sustainability of LuSE became dependent on increasing the number and size of companies that listed on the Exchange. In 2005, the company introduced its own governance code for listed companies. ''

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'' later called the code "a landmark achievement in the development of corporate governance in Zambia." The LuSE, since inception, has expanded beyond being a platform for trading shares and bonds, as demonstrated by some companies from across the spectrum of industry that have used it to raise the public capital for expansion. Among its largest companies in 2024, were

Copperbelt Energy Corporation Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is a Zambian electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply company with operations in Zambia and Nigeria. The company is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (symbol: CECZ) Operations Zambia ...

, ZCCM IH, Zambia Sugar, ZANACO, Standard Chartered Bank Zambia,

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian multinational telecommunications company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and LTE Advanced ...

Zambia, Lafarge and Zambrew, PUMA
Real Estate Investment Zambia (REIZ)
. In January 2022, it was reported that the LuSE topped the list of the Best performing exchanges in Africa with a 93.2 percent gain. In March 2022, the LuSE launched the online GEM Portal, an initiative approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zambia to provide start-ups, small and medium businesses with access to funding to assist the growth of new business ventures and rebuild businesses impacted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In September 2022, the government of Zambia announced a zero withholding tax on interest from investment in green bonds on the local bourse to stimulate green investments. At the end of that month, the Lusaka Securities Exchange All Share Index had strengthened 28 percent YTD in dollar terms of which 17 percent is attributed to third quarter in comparison to the

S&P500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...

which had slid 25 percent amidst a global environment characterized by excessive inflation, soft commodity price dislocations and monetary policy tightening.

Mission statement and mandate

To provide

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

s, businesses and other issuers with an efficient, reliable, orderly, transparent and cost effective platform for the raising of capital and trading of

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

. The LuSE's core mandate is to provide a fair and efficient platform through transparent and equitable trading of the listed securities. LuSE contributes to wealth development, financial services and a platform for investment for foreign and local investors. It provides a platform where companies can raise long term capital and secondary trading of shares. LuSE also provides facilities for the listing of securities and provides users with an orderly, transparent and regulated platform to trade.

Market listings

As of November 2024 there wer
20 Listings
on the LuSE'' And a total of 15 companies were showing on the quoted tier. During the year 2024, two entities delisted from the Exchange namely Taj Pamodzi Hotel and Investrust Bank Zambia Limited. During 2024 fiscal year the LuSE listed its first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which was listed in

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

. As things stand as of November 2024. The LuSE operates a multi-currency listings of both USD and Zambian Kwacha. The LuSE operates a
Alternative Market (Alt-M)
meant for high quality and growth MSMEs.

Delistings

In 2024 the LuSE recorded two delistings namely Taj Pamodzi Hotel and Investrust Bank Zambia Limited.

Trading times

Trading takes place from Monday to Friday from 10:00 GMT+2 to 14:00 GMT+2. These times exclude public holidays.

Alternative Market

In May 2016, the Lusaka Securities Exchange announced the introduction of the LuSE Alt-M, an alternative market for small and medium-sized enterprise to participate in.

Green Bonds - Supporting Sustainability Agenda

The LuSE has over the period increased its focus on contributing to the agenda of sustainability. This can be seen from th
Green Bonds Guidelines
that have been issued focussed on addressing

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and other environmental challenges. These guidelines provide for the issuance of

fixed-income securities Fixed income refers to any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule. For example, the borrower may have to pay interest at a fixed rate once a year and repay the prin ...

by companies that seek to raise funds for projects with a positive

environmental impact Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans ( human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot reco ...

. As of 2024, the LuSE had one listed Green Bond of over $150m on

(CEC) Zambia, which raised funds for its Itimpi Solar Power Station project. Which was issued in

tranches In structured finance, a tranche () is one of a number of related securities offered as part of the same transaction. In the financial sense of the word, each bond is a different slice of the deal's risk. Transaction documentation (see indentu ...

of $50m in 2023 and $100m in 2024.

Raising Debt on the LuSE

The LuSE listing requirements allow for the issuance of Bonds by corporate companies for purposes relating to a company’s

strategic objective Strategic planning is the activity undertaken by an organization through which it seeks to define its future direction and makes decisions such as resource allocation aimed at achieving its intended goals. "Strategy" has many definitions, but it ...

. The bonds provide

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

in exchange for a series of interest payments to the bondholder. As at November 2024, the following were the running Corporate Bonds on the LuSE.

Approved Brokers on LuSE

The Exchange has two categories of brokers namely th
trading brokers
an
sponsoring brokers

References

External links

Website of Lusaka Securities Exchange
*https://www.pwc.com/zm/en/assets/pdf/listed-companies-analysis-report-2020.pdf {{Authority control Stock exchanges in Zambia Companies based in Lusaka Financial services companies established in 1993 1993 establishments in Zambia