Econet Telecom has announced that small investors can purchase shares at the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange using the EcoCash mobile money transfer service.
The company said this will target investors wishing to purchase less than US$5,000 worth of stocks at the exchange.
“I can confirm that we are working on a project to enable people to buy and sell shares using EcoCash. It is mostly directed at small investors who buy shares for less than US$5000 at a time, to as little as U$50,” Econet Wireless Services CEO Darlington Mandivenga said.
“We are just providing a payment solution, which we expect the brokers and public to use. They will all make money from it.”
According to Econet Telecom, the current system favours large and institutional investors but does not take care of the interests of “small” investors.
“Stock brokers find it difficult and expensive to deal with the needs of small investors looking for small volumes of shares, such as those worth $100. The system Econet has in mind will allow brokers to address this market without increasing their costs,” the company said.
Over the past few months, Econet Wireless has been aggressively pushing for EcoCash to be deployed in payment of the likes of public transport fees, retail trading, school fees and utility bills.
The company reported nearly 1.7 million users of the EcoCash product as of October last year.
