Archive for the 'Dual listing' Category
December 14th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Africa’s 24 stock markets should learn to work together better if they are to seize high levels of investor interest, said Nicky Newton-King, CEO of South Africa’s JSE Ltd (www.jse.co.za), Africa’s biggest securities exchange. She was speaking in an interview with agency AFP.
“The appetite for Africa is very, very high. I think everybody is trying to find their way, to participate meaningfully in that. All of us who are privileged enough to run exchanges, need to figure out that these waves of investor appetite aren’t yours by right. Once they come you have to be able to ride them properly. We should not be taking this as business as usual, this is a business opportunity.”
The International Monetary Fund forecasts the aggregate economy of sub-Saharan Africa will grow at around 5.7% next year, presenting a giant opportunity.
Newton-King said on 7 Dec that one way to channel the investor interest through African markets would be to make it easier to invest across borders and to improve liquidity in small markets so that assets can be bought and sold quickly.
The JSE already works closely with the Namibian Stock Exchange (www.nsx.com.na) and she said it is looking to make deals with two other African bourses. She said that creating a single pan-African bourse is not currently on the agenda and the JSE is concentrating on improving the continent’s financial plumbing including allowing cross- and dual-listings and easier order-routing.
“I think it is far more about collaboration. Were we not to have any exchanges on the continent I think we would have wanted to create a single exchange that would service multiple jurisdictions out of one legal base. That’s the most efficient way to do it, but I’m a bit of a realist. Once you try to do cross-border mergers and acquisitions, you run into much more trenchant issues of a regulatory nature, all of which stem from ‘how do we protect the local investor?’, ‘how do we make sure the local market grows?”
Newton-King identified liquidity as a key challenge to attract foreign investors: “Really big trades are not going to go to illiquid markets. The average day’s trade on the JSE is more than the average annual trade on Kenya and Mauritius put together. There are amazing companies in both of those countries.”
She said that allowing Kenyans to invest in joint-listed South African stock in KES shillings, or by allowing South Africans to more easily place orders into Nigerian stock markets would attract more foreign investors. She adds that there are benefits from cross-listing (securities being traded on more than one exchange), as the JSE learned when its leading shares moved to London: “When Anglo-American cross-listed in London, the amount of trades in Anglo-American increased. South Africa’s percentage of trade in Anglo-American decreased, but the decreased percentage was worth more. In those cases you have to think quite bravely.”
She was echoing a theme about Africa’s securities exchanges needing to become more liquid to serve the growing needs both of investors and of enterprises seeking capital.This theme has been strongly stressed by Sunil Benimadhu, CEO of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, since he took over as Presdient of the African Securities Exchanges Association in October 2010, as reported on this blog.
The JSE has consistently offered to work closely to help other exchanges to develop and the author of this blog was GM of NSX when it linked its trading and broker systems in 1998-9. Exchanges in Southern Africa and in East Africa are stepping up the pace of collaboration. The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (COSSE) is working to forge more links,improve technology and other connections and take other steps to improve markets and boost liquidity, as reported here.
“Nigeria the new gateway to African capital markets”
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE – www.nse.com.ng) aims to transform Nigeria into the gateway of African capital markets. Oscar Onyema, CEO of the NSE, on 12 Dec said this at a national competition for secondary and tertiary schools and colleges in Lagos. Priorities for the NSE management in 2013 will continue to be innovations in technology and new product development. Onyema promised more technology-based solutions and data services and said the NSE would advocate changes in policy and would also continue cleaning and restructuring, and making the market accessible.
August 23rd, 2012 by Tom Minney
The 100th company listed on the AltX growth capital board of South Africa’s JSE Ltd securities exchange this week. According to spokesperson Nicole Cheyne: “More than R1.25-billion (USD151.9 million) has been raised via this market,” since AltX was launched in 2003.
The latest listing, on 20 August, is Bermuda-based Osiris Properties International. Osiris’ primary listing is on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. According to a press release from the JSE, it offers investors a high-yielding property investment by acquiring quality undervalued property assets predominantly in the UK and Europe. CEO Peter Todd said “Osiris Properties presents an attractive opportunity for South African investors. Our secondary listing on AltX further enhances the company’s ability to raise capital.”
This was the AltX’s third listing this year, and the weak global economy is blamed for drops in listings both on AltX and the JSE main board, but Cheyne said this is expected to improve. Of the 100 listings, 21 had successfully transferred to the JSE’s main board and 16 had delisted, leaving 63 companies currently listed on AltX. Industrials are the biggest segment by number of companies, but financials constitute 46% of the overall market capitalization of over R12.5-billion.
Also on Monday, financial services company Prescient Holdings listed on the JSE main board via a reverse listing into PBT Group (previously Prescient Business Technologies).
Source: JSE Ltd press release.
July 12th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Uganda’s only power distributor, Umeme, said it plans to raise capital to invest in Uganda’s electricity sector through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Ugandan and Nairobi securities exchanges later in 2012. Umeme is a distribution company and is 100% owned by private equity firm Actis, according to this report on Reuters.
The news came on 6 July at the switching of 5 turbines to add 50MW to the power grid as part of the $860 million Bujagali 250MW hydropower project, one of Africa’s largest power schemes. Umeme has a 20-year electricity distribution concession. Managing director Charles Chapman says the company has opted for the IPO as electricity is now available – Uganda had been suffering power cuts before Bujagali capacity was added – and there was agreement on regulatory targets.
The company would not say how much it hopes to raise and has not finalized plans for the IPO, but Reuters suggests it could be 20% of the shares. The report quotes Chapman: “The initial public offering (IPO) will support Umeme’s capital raising initiatives to finance the continued development of the electricity distribution network, including projects such as prepayment metering and energy loss reduction. We believe that Umeme will be stronger, more transparent and accountable with the input of our customers and employees as shareholders.”
He adds that customers are up to about 460,000 in 2011 from 354,839 in 2009. After power sector unbundling, power in Uganda is generated by the Uganda Electricity Generation Company and transmitted to Umeme by the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company.
According to this blog story, Umeme has already put in its application to the Capital Markets Authority in Uganda and has appointed Stanbic Bank (Uganda) as Transaction Advisor and African Alliance (Uganda) as Sponsoring Broker. Writer Angelo Izama comments: “The company is a safe investment given its monopoly and demand from customers. Many who worry about the risks it faces will look to political risk something to which we will return. Suffice to say that a great degree of the risk will likely be offset when the company lists given the divesting of its ownership to locals.”
May 29th, 2012 by Tom Minney
The dual-listing of Hana Mining Ltd last week on the Foreign Venture Capital Board of the Botswana Stock Exchange (www.bse.co.bw) could bring a giant new cross-Africa railway closer. Hana is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange venture board and the Frankfurt exchange. It plans a copper-silver mine near Ghanzi.
The company’s shares started trading on the BSE on 23 May, according to an announcement. On 14 May the company released its most recent (NI 43-101 compliant) preliminary economic assessment which calls for US$285.5 million initial capital expenditure to create a 10,000 tonne per day open-pit mining and milling operation. This is expected to produce approximately 66.4m pounds of copper and 878,000 ounces of silver annually over a minimum 13-year mine life. It says the Ghanzi property is one of Africa’s premier future copper-silver resources.
Hana Mining’s CEO and Chairman, Marek Kreczmer, was quoted as saying: “The listing of the company’s shares on the BSE is an important step in enhancing the relationship of the Company with the government of Botswana in that it allows the people of Botswana to invest directly in the company and gives the company access to some of the largest investment funds in Africa. Also, by establishing a listing in Botswana, we are aligning the goals of the Company with the people of Botswana.”
The Ghanzi Project covers 2,149 square kilometres in the centre of the Kalahari Copper Belt in northwestern Botswana. Favourable geology extends over an estimated strike length of 600 kilometres. The closest existing railhead to port is at Gobabis, in Namibia, approximately 550 km away. A feasibility study has been carried out with funding from the World Bank and the governments of Botswana and Namibia on completion of a rail link to connect Botswana with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, on the Atlantic coast. More mining projects will make the railway more likely.
Construction is well advanced on a 600MW expansion of the government-owned Moropule Power Plant, which secured US$825m project funding in May 2009. The Trans-Kalahari highway passes within 15 km of the Ghanzi property, which is also near local population centres and workforce.
April 2nd, 2012 by Tom Minney
This morning (2 April) South Africa’s securities exchange, the JSE Ltd, announced a revised strategy to attract more listings from African countries, as they say international interest in investing into the continent’s growth story continues to soar. The JSE is closing its Africa Board and moving the 2 listed companies onto the Main Board (listing requirements for the Africa Board are the same as for the Main Board) or to Alt-X if they are growth companies. The JSE is also stepping up trading in depository receipts (DRs) and offering a broader range of exchange-traded funds and debt instruments.
Siobhan Cleary, Director of Strategy and Public Policy at the JSE, said in a press release: “The JSE’s existing African offering includes 12 African companies. In future, there will be no differentiation (for listing purposes). For equities, this will mean that we will list the companies on the Main Board or AltX as applicable. We will also actively market and profile the African companies that are already listed.”
She says the move is driven by demand for capital and also by the increasing supply of capital from investors. African consumer markets are increasingly being targeted by local companies and companies from overseas, including a growing wave of foreign direct investment activity. Other very active channels for investments are private equity funds, hedge funds and other investors. “We think it is time that stock exchanges started to play an appropriate role in channelling the investments.”
In October 2011 South Africa’s National Treasury announced that companies previously viewed as foreign listings would in future be treated as domestic and this makes it easier for South Africans to invest in JSE-listed African stocks and makes it easier for foreign companies to raise capital. South African institutions will apparently be able to include JSE listed companies among their domestic asset holdings. Second, the JSE has developed good relations with several stock exchanges on the continent through the African Stock Exchanges Association and the Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges. Third, there are increasing investment flows into the continent’s markets and more funds focused on the region, seen as high growth compared to many world markets.
Nathan Mintah, Chairman of the JSE’s Africa Advisory Committee, commented: “This evolution in JSE’s strategy is a step in the right direction in the quest to increase capital flows into the rest of Africa. Offering issuers and investors the ‘whole JSE’ market platform for access to instruments across the capital structure in equities, mezzanine, and fixed income combined with the JSE’s liquidity will clearly benefit all stakeholders and serve as a catalyst for product innovation in areas such as exchange traded products for the rest of Africa.”
The JSE is diversifying the instrument range it offers investors from the rest of the continent. Cleary says: “We already have four interest-rate instruments from the rest of the continent, as well as an African exchange-traded product. We will give increased focus to listing further debt and quasi-equity products in future. These will also include DRs, which are traded like shares and offer investors the same economic, corporate and voting rights as holding underlying shares directly. DRs enable issuers to reach investors located outside their home markets while reducing the risk of cross-border investment.” The JSE altered its listing requirements last year to accommodate DRs, which will provide a way for African companies to raise capital on the JSE without requiring a secondary listing. DRs are applicable for African companies regardless of whether they have an existing listing on an African exchange or any other exchange. Freely traded in South African Rands, this will allow African companies to market themselves to both South African and international investors.
Cleary says there is a pipeline of companies interested and she expects more African listings this year. The JSE is competing with international exchanges such as London and New York for key listings, and also with Australia and Toronto for mining listings. Recently Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote said (see article in Financial Times, for instance) he would take the $11bn Dangote Cement for a London listing in 2013, and last year Zambia’s Zambeef also opted for London.
The two listings on the JSE Africa Board, launched in February 2009, were Trustco from Namibia and Wilderness Safaris from Botswana. The JSE says both prefer to be ranked with their sector peers and in industry sectors. Quinton van Rooyen, Trustco Group MD, commented: “This repositioning of Trustco allows the company, whilst keeping its African identity, to be benchmarked against its peers, on a world-class platform. This can only be beneficial to Trustco and the extensive African investment community.” The JSE is also pledging roadshows and analyst events to highlight the African companies from outside South Africa.
The JSE believes that its approach provides a workable solution to the sometimes complex issue of investment on the continent. The JSE’s approach also contributes to the development of markets within their own economies. Cleary added: “There is an opportunity for the JSE to work with these exchanges and various development institutions to build capacity on the continent. It also gives the JSE the opportunity to evolve its Africa strategy. This has meant looking critically at what issuers – companies, governments and others – from the rest of the continent are looking for, and aligning their needs with the JSE’s objectives,” says Cleary.
February 8th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Tanzanians are set to share the gains of the exciting blue-violet gems that bear their country’s name, tanzanite. Richland Resources Ltd (richlandresourcesltd.com), listed on the London Stock Exchanges’s AIM market (ticker: RLD) says that it plans listing at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (www.dse.co.tz) by April, according to local press reports reprinted on the company’s website today (8 Feb).
According to one report in East African Business Week, Dotto Medard, the firm’s corporate and PR manager, said: “We are in the final stages of listing on the Dar bourse, largely to avail opportunity to as many Tanzanians to be part of the tanzanite industry.” Apparently all Richland’s issued capital will be freely traded on the DSE and will be available to Tanzanians to buy and sell on the market without any restrictions on the number or shareholding available for Tanzanians. Another report in Tanzania Daily News says the listing will be completed by April and there may be a float of 20% of the share capital.
On 6 Feb the coloured gem stone miner announced that new tests have indicated the life of its Mereleni mine in Tanzania could be extended by 30 years. The total indicated resource of the mine is now estimated at 105 million carats, up from 72m carats. Between 2004 and 2011 the mine produced over 11.5 million carats from around 266,000 tonnes of material. The new tests have made the asset “JORC compliant”, conforming to internationally recognised measurement standards.
The company is involved in tanzanite mining, processing, cutting and distribution. The local subsidiaries are Tanzanite One Mining will continue to operate with its name along with Tsavorite One Mining Limited, Tanzanite One Trading Limited, Tanzanite Laboratory Limited and Urafiki Gemstone EPZ Limited. It has recently moved into other coloured gemstones, including tsavorite and sapphire. It says TanzaniteOne Mining has been one of the largest mining contributors to tax in Tanzania. It has invested over US$100m through mine acquisition, development and ongoing mining activities and directly employs 650. Mr. Medard pledged: “the Company will continue to support significant growth in the Tanzanian economy, through export earnings, tax and royalty payments.”
It is the largest miner and supplier of rough tanzanite and uses its position to influence the entire channel, from mine to market (it markets tanzanite globally), ensuring maximum stakeholder value at each stage. It requires large capital investment as tanzanite mining is currently operating at down dip depths of over 900 metres and needs sophisticated equipment and experience. Other expansion plans include a modern plant for cutting and polishing the tanzanite stones under the supervision of Urafiki Gemstone Ltd.
Richland backs successful community projects including support to primary and secondary schools, medical dispensary, community centre and water for people and livestock. It also provides assistance to small-scale miners including geological, mining, surveying, safety and logistical. tanzanite gem is its unique beauty, plus the finite nature of a single known resource at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania.
January 10th, 2012 by Tom Minney
The JSE Ltd (www.jse.co.za), South Africa’s securities exchange, is hoping to attract more listings from the rest of Africa in 2012 and to expand its range of products and services. This year should also see the JSE installing its equity trading system in Johannesburg, to avoid dependence on a transatlantic cable connecting it to the London Stock Exchange.
Nicky Newton-King, who took up her post as CEO last week after succeeding Russell Loubser and the first woman to hold the post, told Business Day newspaper the plan was to offer more access to African companies and products such as exchange-traded funds products that enable people to access new investments: “With the rules of inward listing being relaxed, we would also like to attract more inward listings.” Besides IPOs, Newton-King said she expected to see more types of products, such as depository receipts and derivatives linked to companies being offered.
The JSE is in “good conversation” with several companies elsewhere in Africa over more potential listings. Last November she told Reuters: “We’ve got good conversations going … particularly on the continent.” She said the bourse is targeting mining, telecommunications and financial services: “Our approach is to look at issuers that need capital — need investors where their home markets might be too small. So we’ve got a lot of different segments we are looking at, but we are looking at particular issuers rather than trying to speak to everyone.”
The JSE already has 14 African companies listed, with 4 different debt instruments and 1 African ETF. Last year Reuters highlighted that some growing African firms preferred other international exchanges, particularly the London Stock Exchange and its AIM market, over the JSE for raising capital and listings, as highlighted in stories on this website. The JSE seeks closer cooperation with other African exchanges as it competes with other world bourses: “Clearly we need to be trying to find a way to cooperate with African exchanges, with African issuers to bring more African product to the table here in SA, where we have a lot of international investors everyday.”
The JSE attracted a total of 16 listings last year, with a combined market capitalisation of more than R35 billion (US$4.3bn), according to data from the JSE’s director of issuer services, John Burke. There were also a number of initial public offerings from the property sector. About 15 companies de-listed last year and 21 were on the suspended list. The number of new IPOs worldwide is lower since the start of the global financial crisis. Newton-King said there is a pipeline for potential listings in 2012: “Definitely there’s a pipeline, there’s always a pipeline. We never talk about the number since how many companies actually list and when they list is very much dependent on the economic circumstances of the country and whether the companies themselves are ready to list.
“We are looking forward to being able to attract a wider range of companies and investment opportunities on the JSE.”
The plan is still to use the same computer provider, Sri Lanka’s Millennium IT which is a subsidiary of the LSE. In terms of a February 2011 press release, the JSE is to migrate to a new system Millennium Exchange™, which the LSE has also adopted, in the first half of 2012. Millennium IT systems are used on many African stock exchanges.
Newton-King told Business Day she hoped this will minimise the outages experienced last year, which were linked to technical issues on the transatlantic cable. The JSE halted trading on its equity markets at least twice last year, which led to the exchange attracting criticism from trading houses, which often spoke anonymously to the media.
She said: “We are critically dependent on information technology (IT) and invest heavily in IT to ensure it is robust and able to handle increased volumes as the JSE grows. Our equity systems are run in London and there’s been some trading outages in the lines between us and London…. We are bringing the systems back to avoid that. We will continue to look at whether our technology is robust enough to withstand volumes.”
She did not give much information on rumours that the JSE is talking with SA Treasury on starting a trading market for carbon credits but said the JSE was looking at the possibility and how it would work with others.
Of the type of environment that she envisions at the JSE, Ms Newton-King says: “In 2012 I would like the JSE to be recognised as a place of excellence, a place where SA’s top talent would come and work, where our clients recognise that we provide products and services that are valuable to them.”
Her former post as deputy CEO no longer exists and duties that fell to her are being given to other people so that they can also grow.
January 4th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Although the number of investors from other East African countries opening trading accounts at Kenya’s Nairobi Stock Exchange (www.nse.co.ke) is still very small, it is growing more consistently in the last 2 years than other categories of investors. According to data to 30 Sept released by Kenya’s Capital Market Authority (www.cma.or.ke), East African individual investors opened 97 securities accounts at Kenya’s Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (www.cdsckenya.com). This compares to 92 accounts opened in the full year 2010 and 79 in 2009.
By comparison Kenyan individual investors only opened 27,669 accounts in the 9 months to September 2011, compared to 120,756 accounts opened in 2010 and 52,836 in 2009. Kenyan equity trading has remained subdued as investors say high interest rates make them choose government debt securities over equities.
One potential reason for the East African interest, according to an article in the East African , is that Ugandans are opening trading accounts at the NSE in anticipation of the IPO of electricity distributor Umeme (www.umeme.co.ug) scheduled for 2012. Umeme is expected to cross-list at the NSE and the Ugandan Securities Exchange (www.use.or.ug). Some investors open multiple accounts ahead of a potentially “hot” initial public offering (IPO) of shares, where they hope to sell their initial allocation quickly and make a quick profit, as this is likely to maximise their share of allocation if the IPO is oversubscribed.
Trading experience shows that cross-listed East African shares such as Centum, Kenya Airways, Jubilee Insurance, trade more on the NSE compared with the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (www.dse.co.tz) and USE. The increased liquidity in Nairobi means that East Africans are better off having a trading account at the NSE. The paper comments that Rwandans, Tanzanians and Ugandans are probably realising this fact and also taking positions ahead of the listing of some of their firms on the NSE by opening more CDS accounts in Nairobi: “Investors will go the extra mile to open and operate, as proxies, CDS accounts in the names of their relatives or friends who know nothing on trading in shares. Expect an influx of Rwandese, Tanzanians and Ugandans at the NSE in 2012.”
November 3rd, 2011 by Tom Minney
Reuters newsagency has put together stories on issuers’ and investors’ difficulties with African stock markets. These include lack of liquidity and sinking currencies. It notes that African companies are increasingly dual listing on international stock exchanges.
“Liquidity: the scourge of African stock pickers” quotes a range of institutional investors complaining that liquidity is a major constraint on markets such as Malawi Stock Exchange. According to the article: “Poor but fast-growing, Malawi and other sub-Saharan African countries would offer huge opportunities to international equity investors – if it weren’t for the liquidity scourge. Markets across the continent are hampered by a lack of liquidity, making it nearly impossible to take stakes in all but the biggest firms. “With the exception of South Africa, we feel all sub-Saharan African (markets) are illiquid,” said Ronak Gadhia, Africa equities research analyst at London-based frontier markets specialist Exotix. “Most of our investors are unable to invest outside the big 2 markets, and even then their investable universe is usually the largest 5-10 stocks,” he said, referring to the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange, the two biggest markets outside Johannesburg.
It notes that Sonatel, the giant of the BRVM West African regional securities exchange, is concerned about liquidity on that market and thinking about a secondary listing. An earlier story said the pressure comes from investors.
“Africa’s growing firms shun Jo’burg for London” suggests that even when companies are thinking about dual-listing, they head to the London Stock Exchange or AIM market and don’t consider Johannesburg. The article quotes Zambeef executive director Yusuf Koya: “It was a tough decision. A key factor in the decision process was London’s reputation as the world’s financial centre, which allows us to access a potentially wider range of investors and liquidity.”
According to the article: “A total of 104 African companies are listed on the London exchange, with the majority on AIM. The combined market value of African companies listed in London is now bigger than every African exchange except Johannesburg. Just under $2.1 billion was raised by African companies on the London bourse in 19 transactions in 2010, representing about 90 percent of all equity capital raised by Africa-focused companies in 2010, said Ibukun Adebayo, the LSE’s head of equity primary markets. Dual listings are critical for companies that outgrow their home exchanges, where thin liquidity keeps large investors out. Big bourses such as London and Johannesburg also boast tougher disclosure requirements, reassuring investors concerned about Africa’s corporate governance.”
It also cites bankers that London-based investors tend to have a bigger appetite for emerging market assets than their South African counterparts and quotes a private equity manager: “South African investors don’t understand Africa risk in the same way UK investors do.” It also suggests London may be an easier sell to international investors unfamiliar with Johannesburg. Nicky Newton-King, incoming CEO of South Africa’s JSE Ltd, says Johannesburg offers a world-class standard of disclosure for a lower price and less hassle than London: “You can come to the JSE, you can raise the money here, and your shares will be traded in a very liquid environment, a very respected environment. Without going through the costs and the hoops of listing in London, but with exactly the same standards.”
African investment institutions are just starting to rise, it could be a great time to heed the call from ASEA Chairman Sunil Benimadhu for African securities exchanges to find ways to get more liquid. SADC Stock Exchanges already have a workable model, but what will cause anyone to initiate the change to move onto the next level before many more firms move activity to London , New York or elsewhere?
October 28th, 2011 by Tom Minney
The next step for Africa’s securities exchanges is critical for the continent’s development. There is a huge demand for capital to be put to productive use in what could be the world’s fastest-growing continent, with a dire need for fast growth to drive out poverty. There is also a tide of international risk capital, looking to fund that growth and share in the profits. Between the two are the capital markets, challenged to move fast to become liquid, transparent and effective.
Lots of these topics are on the agenda for The 15th Annual African Securities Exchange Association conference (www.aseaconference2011.ma) (in Marrakesh, Morocco), which looks to have an excellent agenda. Casablanca Stock Exchange is the host, the theme is “Africa, alive with opportunities!”
Top speakers include key opinion leaders such as Thomas Friedman, Mark Mobius and maybe Christine Lagarde of the IMF. Expect speeches from Sunil Benimadhu (Stock Exchange of Mauritius and chair of ASEA), Karim Hajji of the Casablanca bourse, leaders of African securities markets and top speakers from several world bourses including BM&F Bovespa, Istanbul, NASDAQ OMX and the London Stock Exchange, with India’s National Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext to confirm. They will be joined by finance ministers, bankers, analysts, traders, investors and many more.
Topics on day 1 include
• “The financial crisis: Is there a pilot in the plane?” Top analysts, bankers and traders, possibly joined by a European Commissioner from the heart of the crisis
• The economic implications of the “Arab Spring” for the continent, featuring key Ministers who are rebuilding post-crisis countries, a strategist and others
• Capital markets and BRICS (see previous story on stock exchange link-ups) – hear from CEOs and Executive Directors of key BRICS stock exchanges and Emergent Asset Management
• Nursing Africa’s future IPOs: heads of top African stock exchanges from Mauritius to Morocco, via Ghana and maybe Nigeria, plus PAI Partners, a leading French private equity firm
• A new FTSE-ASEA African index.
Day 2 tackles
• Regulation for cross-border development: Regulators from Morocco and the central African stock exchange, plus long-term Africa bull stockbroker Jonathan Auerbach
• Cost-effective and scalable technology options for emerging markets exchanges – featuring Tony Weeresinghe of the LSE, Anne Ewing of NASDAQ and maybe Joseph Mecane of NYSE Euronext, 3 top suppliers of securities markets systems to the continent who hold many of the keys to the next stage of evolution.
• “What’s hot in Africa today?” with a host of top speakers from politics, consulting, banking, mining, economics and development finance covering energy, infrastructure, mining, industry, agribusiness and others.
OPINION: Please note the Day 2 morning topics address critical and urgent issues of how African stock exchanges can work across (colonial) borders to build liquid and effective markets, part of the grand process of African integration and building viable economies.
Expect participants from over 100 countries. The ASEA AGM and committee are on 11 Dec and the conference starts on 12 Dec. The official language is English with Arabic and French translations.
Unmissable! Book the conference here via the ASEA website (www.africansea.org).
Warning!! You may not want to come home. The conference is in Hotel Palmeraie Golf Palace & Spa. The conference website says: “As a backdrop, the majestic, silvery, sentry-like summits of the High Atlas stand out. At the foot of the mountain lies a beautiful city, built in red and surrounded by age-old palm trees. Monuments defying time form a string of pearls for her. An enticing labaryinth, created centuries ago, of old ramparts meanders along its slender “body”. In this fairy-tale decor, lies Marrakesh the legendary; Marrakesh the imperial, the pearl of the south, bathed by an invigorating sun all year round.”