Zambia’s capital market is set for its first gold exchange traded fund (ETF) by the end of October, as the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) moves to widen investment options and attract more domestic and foreign capital.
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The ETF will be sponsored by South African lender Absa Group and listed through an introduction from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Nicholas Kabaso, chief executive officer of LuSE, told Bloomberg in an interview in Nairobi.
The exchange is also preparing for five new company listings in the manufacturing, mining and telecommunications sectors, which are expected to raise about $1 billion, Kabaso said.
The launch of the gold ETF will give Zambian investors a new way to gain exposure to gold without having to hold the physical metal.
Louisa Karanja, a Nairobi based investment and financial analyst, said the product would introduce a new asset class to Zambia’s capital market at a time of strong global demand for gold.
By adding the ETF to a domestic market valued at about $7.49 billion as of September 15, Karanja said LuSE was creating a new avenue for investors seeking protection against inflation and currency volatility.
“For international fund managers, this unlocks two critical macro advantages: a localised currency buffer,” she said in a LinkedIn post, adding that the ETF could allow investors to hedge against local currency and wider economic risks without moving all their capital into offshore safe haven assets.
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Gold backed ETFs have attracted greater investor interest in 2026 as gold prices have risen and demand for the metal has widened across markets. Bloomberg data shows total gold held by such funds has increased by about 1 percent this year to around 100 million ounces.
The planned company listings will add to the expansion of Zambia’s equity market, which has been seeking to deepen the range of investable assets available to investors.
ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc, the majority state owned mining investment company, is also considering selling part of its shareholding to meet the local requirement for a minimum 25 percent free float.
Karanja said the planned listings could help increase the depth of the market and provide more opportunities for domestic institutional investors.
“Coming off a phenomenal 68 percent surge in the LuSE All Share Index, adding five new listings signals a strong regulatory drive to deepen secondary markets and capture expanding domestic pension and institutional liquidity,” she said.
The LuSE All Share Index has gained 1.3 percent so far this year, while the exchange’s total market value stood at about 124.5 billion kwacha ($6.36 billion), according to Bloomberg data.
Airtel Networks Zambia Plc, Zambia National Commercial Bank Plc and Real Estate Investments Zambia Plc are among the market’s top gainers this year.
The planned gold ETF also reflects a broader shift among frontier exchanges towards offering investors more than traditional shares and bonds.
“Frontier bourses are rapidly outgrowing their traditional, siloed constraints,” Karanja said. “They are building the sophisticated multi asset runways required to absorb larger global mandates, mitigate systemic sovereign risks, and anchor predictable cross border exits.”
Kabaso said demand from foreign investors for both fixed income securities and equities had recovered following Zambia’s August election, which returned President Hakainde Hichilema for a second term.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia declared Hichilema the winner with nearly 61 percent of the vote.
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Kabaso said the renewed investor interest reflected expectations of policy continuity and a stable macroeconomic environment.
“All these are coming obviously on the back of renewed confidence that there will be policy consistency and there is also going to be very few variation from the macroeconomic environment,” he said.
The gold ETF and five planned listings would expand the securities available on the LuSE, while giving investors more ways to allocate capital within Zambia’s financial markets.
For the exchange, the developments come as it seeks to increase the market’s ability to mobilise domestic savings and attract foreign investment into Zambian assets.
