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Oliver Kazunga, Acting Business Editor
AN initiative that seeks to represent the interests of the country’s online currency traders will be officially launched in Bulawayo at the end of the month.

The initiative, which is called Forex Traders’ Association of Zimbabwe (Fotraz), has also been formed so that its members’ activities are presented in a formal way and ensure the country benefits from foreign currency generation.

Addressing journalists during a tour of the Forex Trading School Africa in Bulawayo last week, the institution’s chief trading officer, Mr Kuda Manzanga, said:
“We built this school here (Bulawayo) in 2016 and almost every month we are training about 400 people.

“On the 26th of January, we will be launching an association called the Forex Traders Association of Zimbabwe (Fotraz).

“This association encompasses all the traders in the country and we are launching it formally because we want to present what we do in a formal way, and show people that there is benefit if you become a trader not just for you as a person but the nation because your profits are generally in foreign currency”.

More than 400 people including Government officials are expected to attend the launch ceremony at the trading school.

Since its establishment, Forex Trading School Africa has trained thousands of traders dotted across the country.

“According to our estimations, people are generating over $200 000 every month in this country alone from trading.

“So the purpose of the association is to make sure that we protect, grow and incubate the industry, things can always happen but if you are an association you can protect what you are trying to do and present it in a formal way.”

Mr Manzanga said online currency trading was critical as it was a platform where prices of commodities were determined on the international market.

“For instance, the gold price today was determined by people who were trading in the international community.

“The exchange rate of the United States dollar- South African rand is determined by people who are trading and banks trading amongst each other and trying to determine what the rate is, so all of that is what gives us prices so they say the market is a true indication of the price.”

He said online trading was basically the largest market on earth with over $7 trillion being exchanged every day in the currency market.

Online currency trading, Mr Manzanga noted, was risky and as an institution they were training people to manage the risk associated with the virtual currency market activities.

This was being done by ensuring a typical trader was taken for intensive training for six months to fully master the skill.

And as part of efforts to curb the risk associated with online currency trading, the school has this year set aside $50 000 for its mentorship programme where trading accounts of potential traders will each be funded with $50 to serve as working capital.

A selected few who will show potential from the mentorship programme will also have $500 deposited into their trading accounts as a further empowerment package.

— @okazunga