Archive for the 'Stock Exchanges' Category
July 31st, 2010 by Tom Minney
Zambia’s Lusaka Stock Exchange (LUSE – www.luse.co.zm) will host the 14th African Stock Exchange Association (ASEA) conference from 10 -12 November. The theme this year is “Integration of African Capital Markets through Technology” which occupies a few sessions are dedicated to this (see the list below and the conference pages on the website).
The meeting will be in the tourist capital, Livingstone, which has international flights, but in quiet moments you can still hear the impressive Victoria Falls. LUSE Chief Executive Officer, Beatrice Nkanza.says the stock exchange has been preparing for the conference since 2008, when it was agreed Zambia would host this year’s event. Previously LUSE successfully hosted the 5th conference in September 1998.
The agenda includes: capital markets and economic growth in Africa, the role of financial systems in capital market developments, a road map for the future of African stock exchanges, regulation, investor protection and corporate governance, credit rating, IT solutions & the role of technology, valuation, research, asset management, bond market development strategies, regional Integration, cross-border securities settlement and
private equity vs. public-private partnerships.
ASEA is a not-for-profit association of 20 stock exchanges drawn from 27 African countries. It was founded in Kenya in 1993 for systematic mutual co-operation and exchange of information among its members. It seeks to increase the visibility of African stock exchanges as the preferred frontier markets for investments including attracting foreign direct investments (FDI).
Speakers and panellists from Africa and elsewhere could include World Bank Zambia representative from Washingston, Dr. Sam Maimbo; Bank of Zambia Governor Dr. Caleb Fundanga; CEO of Johannesburg Stock Exchange Russell Loubser; FSB South Africa Director Markets Supervision Anna Manganyi and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Director General Mr. S. N. Ngwenya..
Topics & Speakers:
Capital markets and economic growth in Africa – the link and way forward: Dr. Kapil Kapoor- World Bank country representative Zambia
The role of financial systems in capital market developments: Dr. Caleb Fundanga- Bank of Zambia Governor
African Stock Exchanges – a road map for the future: Russell Loubser, CEO Johannesburg Stock Exchange
Regulation of Stock Markets – Current trends & issues: Panel discussion Anna Manganyi – FSB South Africa, Michael Liweleya – Director Markets Supervision, SEC Zambia
Investor protection and corporate governance in African capital markets: Panel discussion Dr. Joshua Okumbe – CEO, Centre for Corporate Governance (Kenya), Mr. Mumba Kapumba – President Institute of Directors Zambia
Credit rating – is it still relevant? Panel discussion Dr. Denny Kalyalya – Deputy Governor Operation Bank of Zambia; Mr. Konrad Reuss – Managing Director, Standard & Poor’s sub–Saharan Africa; Mr. Michael Mwaanga – Debt Management Department, Ministry of Finance and National Planning, Zambia
IT solutions & the role of technology in African capital markets: Millennium IT- Malabe, Sri Lanka.
Private Equity vs PPP in Africa – trends and way forward: JP Fourier – Executive Director, Southern Africa Venture Capital Association
Valuation and Research on African Markets: Panel discussion, Hubert Danso – Managing Director, Africa Investor – South Africa
Asset Management in African emerging markets – fund manager’s perspective: John Legat- Managing Director IMARA Asset Management; Jonathan Auerbach – co-founder & Managing Director, Auerbach Grayson & Co., New York.
Bond Market development strategies: Panel discussion Mr. Peter Banda – Director Financial Markets, Bank of Zambia; Dr. Graham Smale – Head of Fixed-Income Securities JSE; Almet Keshkilner – Turkish Treasury; Nigeria Stock Exchange
Regional Integration: What are the opportunities & challenges? Mr. S. N Ngwenya – Director General, COMESA
Cross-Border Securities Settlement: Panel discussion Vipin Y. S Mahabirsingh – Managing Director CSD Mauritius; Rose Mambo – CEO, CSDS Kenya; Steve Everettee – Strate, South Africa.
July 31st, 2010 by Tom Minney
The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE – www.nigerianstockexchange.com, working intermittently) on 26 July denied that there was any succession crisis. Court cases on the succession had led to there not being any meetings of the Council, said the NSE.
Court wrangles following the election of the reported billionaire business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote as President of the NSE on 6 August 2009 have featured regularly in Nigerian media and websites. The following is a quick and selective summary as found on the Internet.
In April 2009, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cleared Dangote of involvement in manipulating shares in African Petroleum Plc (AP), which had accused him of instructing a stockbroker to force down its stock price more than 80%. The election at which Dangote became NSE President was 2 days after a court order of 4 August.
Later, 15 aggrieved AP shareholders filed a suit against: Dangote, Nova Finance and Securities Limited, the NSE including Director-General (CEO) Prof Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Securities and Exchange Commission and 10 defendants over the alleged share price manipulation. They sought to nullify Dangote‘s election on the grounds of disobedience to the previous court order.
This was supported by the ruling of Justice Lambo Akanbi in the Federal high Court on 12 March, that the action of the NSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission in conducting the election and electing Dangote as NSE President was contemptuous of a court order. He set aside all the steps taken by the NSE and SEC on the issue.
Dangote was dissatisfied with the verdict and appealed against his removal as the NSE Ppresident. On 6 July 2010 Justice Raphael Agbo of the Court of Appeal in Lagos struck out the application and awarded N10,000 costs in favour of the respondents. The date of 4 November has been set for hearing a fresh application by Dangote.
A further session of the Federal High Court in Lagos on 14 July requested Dangote, Okereke-Onyiuki and others to appear to answer contempt of court claims, that Dangote had been acting as President with the support of Okereke-Onyiuki, including presiding over meeting of Council in late June and receiving a dignitary. The Court gave 22 July as a date for them to appear before it and face potential prison for contempt, but the two said they were unable to appear. The Court, presided over by Justice James Tsoho, ordered the Police to compel them to appear on 27 July. It is not clear what is the actual situation from the reports, since we would expect more articles on the subject, but lawyers for the two are said to be appealing.
Reuters quotes African Petroleum as saying a year earlier that the alleged share manipulation was linked to a dispute between Dangote and AP Chairman, Femi Otedola, who is also a business mogul, with vast interests in oil and gas, shipping, cement and real estate. Otedola is reportedly the other Nigerian on last year’s Forbes billionaires list, with reported wealth of $1.2 billion.
On the succession to Okereke-Onyiuki, who retires after a distinguished career, the Daily Trust newspaper quotes an NSE spokesperson as saying that the exchange had a succession plan since April 2008. However, as a peace-loving organization, the bourse had agreed to comply with the position of the Securities and Exchange Commission to advertise proposed positions for senior executives.
The report quotes the NSE spokesperson: “This is going on as scheduled with Accenture, only for these agents of destruction to raise false alarm in order to scuttle the recruitment process.” The NSE claims that since the court ruled last year barring Dangote from parading as NSE president, the exchange has been conducting its operations via committee since the court order did not ask for the shutting down of the market. “NSE is a law-abiding corporate citizen; hence Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke has never called any National Council meeting whatsoever and has no plans to call one. The orchestrated claims by the faceless detractors that there is succession crisis at the NSE are absolutely false.”
Justice Akanbi was scathing in his judgement in March on teh contempt of court, according to the report in the Vanguard newspaper: “..like every judicial official, I feel troubled and tremble each time I see any Chief Executive of a government agency or establishment and their minions spurn the treat the order of court with levity, leaving the impression that since the court have neither the police nor guns nor the army to enforce whatever orders they make, they should be treat such orders with impunity.
He condemned both the NSE and the SEC: “the conduct of all officials of the NSE and SEC, who organised and/or participated in the purported election of Dangote is reprehensible and highly condemnable. They perhaps look at the court and think that it can only bark but cannot bit.
“This court will make them see that our teeth are not only sharp, they can be poisonous when they chose to bite. The court will not allow them to treat the court orders as useless by refusing to obey them lest anarchy may set in..”.
According to the BBC website, Dangote, group president and CEO of the Dangote Group, is reputed to be Africa’s richest man, with Forbes magazine in the United States estimating his fortune two years ago at $3.3bn (£2.3bn). His wealth was built on a business empire that he founded in 1977 and now includes the number one sugar production company in Nigeria, a cement factory and textile products, plus he was made a Commander of the Order of the Niger five years ago. He is a long-standing supporter of English Premier League soccer team Arsenal FC, but in May denied he was buying a 15.9% stake in the club that is reportedly on the market.
The story is based on reports in Daily Trust, Vanguard and Punch newspapers together with www.bbc.co.uk/sport, www.reuters.com, www.itsnaija.com and www.huhuonline.com. We do not vouch for the accuracy or completeness of the reports.
July 26th, 2010 by Tom Minney
“Currently our capitalisation is just above US$3 billion and is falling, but if we attract big companies to list, especially in the mining and banking sectors, we can grow the size of the market up to levels of US$10 billion.” These brave words come from the new chair of the management committee of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (www.zse.co.zw), Ndodana Mguquka.
He added, according to a report in the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper (www.theindependent.co.zw): “As the new executive committee, we are looking forward to reviving the ZSE. At the moment there are a lot of issues that need to be sorted out, particularly the quality of our listings. We need to improve the quality of our listings to attract foreign and local investment.”
On 14 July, Finance Minister Tendai Biti had given a good summary of the ZSE’s woes in his 2010 Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review (www.zimtreasury.org) to Parliament. He said: “Trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has largely been low, mainly due to market illiquidity in the first half of the year. Foreign participation has remained subdued with investments mainly confined to portfolio restructurings. Corporate results have also failed to uplift the equity market as most corporate are still undercapitalised and also suffering from subdued demand.”
He said that on average takeup of recapitalization rights issues had only been 50%, and underwriters had taken the balance.
“The industrial index which started the year at a high of 156.52 had dropped to 127.46 by June 2010, whilst the mining index fell from an opening of 209.8 to 143.08. Similarly, market capitalisation fell from US$3.97 billion in January 2010 to US$3.19 billion by end of June 2010. The poor performance is as a result of investors pulling out their investments reflecting depressed investors’ sentiment over perceived financial risks, especially following gazetting of the Indigenisation Regulations on March 1.
“In particular, foreign investors’ contribution to market turnover fell from between 40-50% to an average 20% per month.”
Mr Mguquka is the Managing Director of New Africa Securities. The management committee manages and controls the ZSE, settles disputes between members, examines all applications for listing securities for trading on the exchange, and enforces listing requirements with powers to grant, review, suspend or terminate listings so that securities would no longer be tradeable on the bourse. He took over from Bart Mswaka of Renaissance Securities who remains as his deputy.
July 15th, 2010 by Tom Minney
From when trading started at 10am last Sunday, 11 July, NASDAQ Dubai (www.nasdaqdubai.com) is routing all trades in its listed equities through the trading platform of Dubai Financial Market (DFM – www.dfm.ae). NASDAQ Dubai is one of the leading exchanges contesting the crown of financial centre of the Middle East and North Africa, and also has potential for channeling investments into African countries.
Trading for the first few sessions this week was reported to have gone well and several brokers were said to be inquiring about membership.
NASDAQ Dubai describes itself as: “the international financial exchange serving the region between Western Europe and East Asia. It welcomes regional as well as global issuers that seek regional and international investment. The exchange currently lists shares, derivatives, exchange-traded commodities, structured products, Sukuk (Islamic bonds) and conventional bonds.”
The move has been prepared since last December, and is part of a consolidation between the exchanges and aiming to boost liquidity on NASDAQ Dubai. Essa Kazim, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DFM, said in a press release: “Cooperation between the two exchanges will increase, driving the expansion of Dubai as a centre of capital markets dynamism and innovation. Today’s outsourcing is a major step for us and the region. Through these growing links, DFM gains a wider array of product offerings and international expertise, while NASDAQ Dubai benefits from DFM’s high liquidity and enormous base of over 552,000 investors.”
Clearing, settlement and custody functions for NASDAQ Dubai equities also migrated to DFM’s systems on 11 July under an outsourcing agreement. Jeff Singer, Chief Executive of NASDAQ Dubai, said: “This new structure brings together more than half a million individual investors on DFM with NASDAQ Dubai’s institutional investors, many of them based outside the region. It positions Dubai as a leading international capital markets hub, providing investors with excellent liquidity and issuers with a choice of regulatory frameworks.”
In May 2010 DFM acquired two thirds of the shares of NASDAQ Dubai through an acquisition of shares from Borse Dubai and NASDAQ OMX, the international exchange group. Borse Dubai still owns one third of the shares. NASDAQ Dubai remains a separate exchange regulated to international standards by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), which gave approval for the outsourcing last week. DFM is regulated by the United Arab Emirates’ Securities and Commodities Authority. NASDAQ Dubai remains a separate company inside the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). It retains its own legal framework, listing rules and Members.
DFM and NASDAQ Dubai equities are now displayed together on the DFM website www.dfm.ae. NASDAQ Dubai equities also continue to be displayed separately on the NASDAQ Dubai website www.nasdaqdubai.com. Brokers who are members of NASDAQ Dubai access the DFM trading platform either directly, or through NASDAQ Dubai’s Market Place Services function, or through another broker.
Under the outsourcing, NASDAQ Dubai’s equities remain listed on NASDAQ Dubai and are not listed on DFM. Trading of equity derivatives continues to take place on NASDAQ Dubai’s own trading platform and systems.
NASDAQ Dubai’s opening hours are now 10am to 2pm UAE time (6am to 10am GMT) Sunday –Thursday. These are also DFM’s opening hours. Previously, NASDAQ Dubai’s opening hours were 10am to 5pm UAE time (6am to 1pm GMT) Sunday-Thursday.
June 29th, 2010 by Tom Minney
Preparations continue in Rwanda for the listing of BRALIRWA, originally said earlier this year to be coming “very soon”. It will be the first Initial Public Offer on the Rwanda Over-The-Counter stock market. Recently Government officials announced the advisers, according to a report in New Times (www.newtimes.co.rw) newspaper.
Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda (www.bralirwa.com) is the only brewer and estimated to have 95% market share, as well as the Coca Cola franchise. It is owned 70% by international Heineken Group and 30% by the Rwandan Government. According to previous reports, the Government wants to sell 25% to the public and 5% to Heineken, but was examining applications to be the transaction adviser and sponsoring broker.
Government has said that advisors will be a consortium of MBEA Kampala, MBEA Security Services Kigali and Renaissance Capital of Nairobi as the lead transaction advisor. Lead sponsoring broker is Dyer & Blair Investment of Kenya and African Alliance, also Kenyan, is co-sponsoring broker.
Sanjeev Anand, the Managing Director of Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) said last week that BCR will join Kenya Commercial Bank as receiving bank, although KCB is the lead receiving bank, according to the report: “Applications will be presented to BCR which will reconcile them with the funds.” He said they had won the role through bidding and on the basis of expertise: “We have the capability to do it, given our experience in preparing IPOs in other countries like Uganda and elsewhere, and we are proud to be involved in the first IPO in the country.”
So far trading on the Rwanda OTC has been mainly treasury and other bonds, with limited trading in the dual-listed shares of KCB. The Rwanda OTC is operated, developed and regulated by the Capital Markets Advisory Council (www.cmac.org.rw).
June 23rd, 2010 by Tom Minney
South Africa’s full service securities exchange, the JSE Ltd (www.jse.co.za), on 17 May recorded 205,748 trades valued at more than R20 billion (US$2.6 billion). This coincided with the JSE’s equity futures “close out” when trades in derivatives called futures contracts had to be settled.
It is the first time in its 123-year history that more than 200,000 trades have been done in a day. On 7 May 2010 the previous record number of trades was 189,253.
According to a press release, Leanne Parsons, Head of Equities Trading at the JSE, explained: “This increased activity occurred on yesterday’s futures close-out as traders closed out their derivatives positions and purchased the underlying shares.”
Close-outs happen 4 times a year in March, June, September and December and usually bring a spike in trading activity.
A general rise in average daily trade numbers in 2010 also contributed to the record. According to the latest JSE monthly trading statistics published for May 2010, the number of equity trades is up by 24% year-on-year, from a total of 8.2 million trades in the first 5 months of 2009 to 10.1 million in the same period of 2010. There has been an average of 99,128 trades each day in the first 5 months of 2010, compared to average daily trade numbers of 46,216 (in 2007), 69,295 (2008) and 84,018 (in 2009).
On the JSE’s equity derivatives market, volumes of futures contracts traded rose nearly 7% during the first five months of 2010 on the previous period (2010: 51.3 million; 2009: 48.1 million). The number of futures contracts traded in May alone was 6.8 million. Allan Thomson, Head of Derivatives Trading, said in a press release: “This year-on-year growth is pleasing.” Trade in index futures increased 101% year-on-year off a low base.
The number of commodity futures contracts traded on the JSE’s commodity derivatives market increased by more than 8% in the first five months of 2010, compared with the same period in 2009 (2010: 662,000; 2009: 610,000). In the same period, volumes traded in commodity options have grown 27% year-on-year.
In the JSE’s interest rate market, cash bond volumes remain stable with volumes reported to the exchange in the month of May slightly below R1.4 trillion compared to R1.1 trillion in April. Year-to-date volumes also remain in the same range as 2009 with the 2010 reported trade number at R5.85 trillion compared to R5.83 trillion in 2009.
“Given the stable interest rate outlook and the continued issuance by National Treasury and state-owned enterprises there is no reason to anticipate any major market volatility with regard to price or volume movements. June and July will present some volume pressure due to the soccer world cup; however volumes should return to normal after the event,” commented Graham Smale, Director: Interest Rate Products.
Positive growth continues in the market for listed interest rate derivatives. Contracts traded during the 3 months ended May grew nearly 45% year-on-year, off a low base. “We will continue to focus on building a successful exchange-traded interest rate derivatives market,” added Smale.
The JSE connects buyers and sellers in 4 different financial markets: equities, equity derivatives, commodities derivatives and interest rate instruments. The JSE Ltd says it offers the investor a first-world trading environment, with world-class technology, surveillance and settlement in an emerging market context. It is amongst the world’s top 20 largest equities exchanges in terms of market capitalisation.
The JSE’s equity market has been particularly volatile recently in line with turbulent global markets. This volatility is represented in numeric form by the JSE’s South African Volatility Index (SAVI) which rose from a low of 18% in April to a high of 33% in May before subsiding to 26% by close of trade yesterday.
The JSE’s introduced a new billing model on 1 March 2010, which aims to incentivise increased trade and to recognise retail and algorithmic investors, both important target markets for the JSE.
Trading statistics for the 17/06/10
Volume 394,839,938
Value R20,839, 256K
Number of trades 205,748
Trading statistics for previous record number of trades 7/05/2010
Volume 1,018,433,885
Value R30,613,372K
Number of trades 189,253
June 22nd, 2010 by Tom Minney
Tunisian car retailer Ennakl Automobiles (www.ennakl.com), official distributor of Volkswagen, Seat, Audi and Porsche and part of the Group Princesse El Materi Holding, headed by Mohamed Sakher El Materi Holding, is offering 40% of its share capital for sale. This is preparation to a double listing of 30% of its capital on the Tunis stock exchange (www.bvmt.com.tn) and 10% on the Casablanca stock exchange (www.casablanca-bourse.com) in Morocco. The offer is open from 23 June – 2 July, according to a report on Tunis Online (www.tunisiaonlinenews.com).
The company is offering 12 million shares at 10.7 Tunisian dinars (US$7.06) in Tunisia and Dirham 64.22 ($7.16), for a total of TND 128.4 million ($84.7 million). Of the 9 million shares offered on the Tunis stock exchange, 4.4 million are secured for institutional investors.
According to the report, Mr. Mohamed Sakher El Materi, President of Ennakl, said the aim is to increase Princesse Holding group funds for developing its business interests, particularly in the financial sector. The press release says the group has created Banque Zitouna and is creating the Takaful insurance company. It also aims to bring the 2 exchanges closer and increase co-operation and financial exchanges between both countries.
Ennakl wants to expand during the next 5 years (2010-2014) by marketing Seat cars in 2010, Skoda in 2011 and diversifying its Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche brands. It also aims to boost its distribution network from 14 to to reach about 21 official agencies in 2011. It was established in Tunisia in 1965 and privatized in 2006, according to a company press release. It says it is the leading car distributor in the country and second in Africa for Volkswagen after South Africa.
Ennakl is expected to achieve almost TND 378 million turnover by 2010, up by 16% on TND 326 mln in 2009, and net profits TND 27 mln, up from TND 22 mln in 2009. It says it sold 9,617 light cars in 2009.
It would be the second car distributor on the Tunis bourse, after Artes.
June 18th, 2010 by Tom Minney
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE – www.nigerianstockexchange.com but it still does not work well on my computer) is keeping open its offer, made earlier this year, to waive listing fees for downstream oil majors, major telecommunications companies and major government organizations, according to a local newspaper. The offer, meant to encourage them to list their shares for trading on the NSE, was made by Director-General of the NSE, Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke.
Mr. Sola Oni, Head of Corporate Affairs at the NSE, recently was reported in the Daily Sun newspaper (www.sunnewsonline.com) as confirming the promise to grant free listing to Shell, Chevron and other oil majors if they decide to list on the bourse. The aim is to give investors an opportunity to co-own the companies.
He reportedly said that listing these companies with high market capitalisation would help to widen and broaden the stock exchange. “NSE will always do anything that would help to not only develop the market but result in increased investors’ return on investment”, he is quoted as saying.
The paper says that so far, only petroleum marketing companies and one telecommunications firm are listed for trading. Oil-producing majors have not shown interest. It quotes Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke as saying that experts have been brought to prepare the ground for the listing of these organisations, but they still feel reluctant to get quoted on the NSE: “We are ready to list the companies free without charging… Getting them listed will bring many benefits to them”.
June 13th, 2010 by Tom Minney
A top line-up of speakers from the financial community launched the Africa Sustainable Investment Forum (AfricaSIF- http://www.africasif.org) on 9 June at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (www.jse.co.za).
Speaking at the launch, AfricaSIF co-founder Graham Sinclair said it is a strategic new step in facilitating investment in Africa that purposefully integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors: “Africa needs capital, but it does not benefit from capital that does not develop our continent sustainably. AfricaSIF aims to attract new capital in new ways to Africa and help to grow sustainable investment on the continent by taking a long-term interest in Africa’s economic development.
“2010 is set to be a landmark year for Africa. With the world’s eyes on the FIFA World Cup kicking off in SA in just two days’ time, massive infrastructure development is taking place and the knock-on effects for the economy and business are immense. Africa has about the same number of potential consumers as India or China. After 40 years of sub-par growth, Africa’s GDP grew at 5% for five straight years from 2002, putting Africa back on the global investment radar.”
AfricaSIF describes itself on its website as “a network, knowledgebase and advocate for sustainable investment in Africa. We are currently developing an independent, pan-African not-for-profit network of investment practitioners promoting sustainable development on the continent by attracting investment in the public, private and philanthropy sectors across asset classes, countries and stakeholders from the platform at africasif.org.”
Speakers at the launch included Jay Naidoo (Chair of both Development Bank of South Africa and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), Judge Mervyn King (Chair of the Global Reporting Initiative and King Commission), Simon Harford (Partner: Africa, Actis), Tim Turner (African Development Bank Director), Corli le Roux (Legal Counsel for the JSE), Wanjiru Kirima (Chairperson of the Principal Officers’ Association) and JP Fourie (South African Venture Capital Association).
“AfricaSIF is a pioneering network which believes in the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet,” said Simon Harford, whose company Actis has over 60 years’ experience of private equity in Africa. “AfricaSIF’s work lays the foundations upon which strong, long-term and sustainable businesses are built.”
“This initiative launched at the JSE will create a network of best practice on ESG factors in investment for the continent,” said AfDB’s Tim Turner.
Sinclair adds that analysis in March 2009 indicates approximately $6.9 trillion, including $300 billion in emerging markets was invested integrating ESG factors, but wonders how much of this is in Africa. “AfricaSIF will provide services and opportunities for our members to work together to align investment profitability with social and environmental responsibility in Africa. We are also working on the first ever report on the state of sustainable investment in Africa, scheduled for release in December 2010,” he says.
AfricaSIF was hosted at Africa’s largest stock exchange to emphasise the practical nature of AfricaSIF, a network as a meeting place for the whole investment value chain, attracting capital to sustainable businesses across asset classes.
“The over 400 members of Principal Officers Association are asset owners that are increasingly driving alignment of their fund managers and service providers toward the sustainable investment theme. AfricaSIF is a new element of the investment ecosystem that will play a vital catalytic role across Africa in accelerating this process,” said Wanjiru Kirima, chairperson of the Principal Officers’ Association and AfricaSIF co-founder.
“Our members are actively seeking opportunities to deploy investment in clean tech and other sustainability themes in Africa”, said SAVCA’s JP Fourie. “We look forward to working with and in the AfricaSIF network”.
Further launch events are scheduled to take place in Cape Town end June, Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo/Tunis, Geneva, London, Paris, New York and Boston. The first annual AfricaSIF conference, ESG Africa, is in partnership with global ESG specialist journal Responsible Investor (www.responsible-investor.com) and other partners, and scheduled for December 2010.
With thanks to African investor (http://www.ainewswire.com).
June 9th, 2010 by Tom Minney
Rwanda’s Capital Markets Advisory Council (www.cmac.org.rw) expects 4 more Kenyan cross-listings this year on the Rwanda Over The Counter market, which is run by CMAC, bringing the total to 5, according to a report in The New Times newspaper (www.newtimes.co.rw).
Robert Mathu, the Executive Director of CMAC, is reported as saying that the Nation Media Group (www.nationmedia.com) has made a formal approach and mentioned it in their annual report, and the CMAC also expects interest from Equity Bank, Kenokobil and TPS Serena. The companies are already doing business in Rwanda and elsewhere in Eastern Africa.
He is reported as saying: “This means a lot for the Rwandan market as it gets more products and increases the capital markets standards of trading as well as the infrastructure to make it easy for investors to invest.”
The companies also plan to cross list on other regional markets as the East African markets move to much closer integration. Mr Mathu said that cross listing is not about raising new capital and the companies will offer 100% of their shares to Rwandan investors at the trading prices on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (www.nse.co.ke).
The first cross-listing is Kenya Commercial Bank. The big step for this year would be teh first local Initial Public Offering for brewery BRALIRWA, covered on this blog in February.