Archive for the 'Tanzania' Category
May 2nd, 2013 by Tom Minney
Tanzanian news media yesterday (1 May) released the news that 37-year old Moremi Marwa has been appointed as the new CEO of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (www.dse.co.tz). According to this news report on Tanzania Daily News, Marwa was selected by the DSE governing board in mid-March, after the post had been advertised earlier (see this blog post), and is the first stockbroker to manage the East African securities exchange.
He is scheduled to take up his post in mid-May, He replaces Gabriel Kitua, who resigned early in 2013 and will be the fourth CEO since the DSE began operations in April 1998. At the time of writing the news is not yet confirmed on the DSE website (1 May was holiday).
Mr Marwa was the Director and Chief Executive Officer for stockbroker Tanzania Securities Ltd. According to this bio on the TSL website, he was responsible for executing the licensed brokerage’s corporate strategy and investment policy and for discretionary mandates.
“Before he joined Tanzania Securities Limited in September 2010, Moremi was a Senior Manager in Ernst & Young’s Transaction Advisory Services. He has a significant corporate finance and investment advisory experience and has worked with a number of major clients both in the public and private sector.”
Before E&Y he was with Deloitte & Touche in Corporate Finance Services since 2006 as a business analyst. His accounting career included managing assignments such as corporate finance structuring, capital raising, transactions support, syndicated loans structuring and reviews, valuations and financial modeling, feasibility studies and business plans. His earlier career was with Barclays Bank and Bank of Africa.
Qualifications include being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Masters of Business Administration in Finance (MBA) and a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) in Accounting. He also holds the ACI (Financial Markets Association) Treasury Operations Certificate. He is licenced by the Capital Markets & Securities Authority (CMSA) as Authorised Dealers Representative and Authorised Investment Adviser. Moremi is also a Licensed DSE Floor Trader and is a Council Member of the DSE.
Congratulations to Mr Marwa and best wishes to the DSE, well managed in the interim by Mrs Mary Mniwasa.
February 11th, 2013 by Tom Minney
The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange is advertising for a new CEO, see here on the DSE website for the job advertisement. The deadline is this Friday, 15 February.
The contract of the previous CEO Gabriel Kitua, expired on 31 January. Gabriel is recommended from my own experience, as a firm and results-oriented manager with vision who had the drive and hard work to make it happen. He read reports carefully and made constructive inputs and he was also pragmatic and believed in progress. We wish him all the best going forward.
Pending the new appointment, the DSE is in the capable hands of Mary Mniwasa, a lawyer who has served the DSE for long as Corporate Affairs Manager and Legal Counsel, including many key strategic and management processes.
Dar es Salaam and the Tanzanian economy are both booming with much growth still to come. The people and place are very pleasant. Closer links across the East African community are hotting up the pace of progress, modernization and integration. The DSE and its key stakeholders, the Capital Markets and Securities Authority, the Bank of Tanzania, the Government, issuers, stockbrokers and investors, are pushing processes of modernization and change including a demutualization strategy and an ambitious 5-year plan.
We wish them all the luck with the recruitment process.
January 29th, 2013 by Tom Minney
Entrepreneurs running small and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in West and East Africa stand to benefit from a new $75 million private equity fund. The announcement follows the news on 29 Jan that two long-term partners are merging.
InReturn Capital (www.inreturncapital.com) is a private-equity company based in Nairobi (Kenya) that invests in SMEs across East Africa, and it plans to close a legal merger in the first quarter of 2013 with London (UK)-based Jacana Partners (www.jacanapartners.com), a private equity specialist in SME investments, which has been building capacity in private equity managers in Africa.
The new partnership will offer a significant boost for East African entrepreneurs seeking value-add expertise and growth capital. InReturn was investing in transaction size of $0.5m-$1.3m and the partnership with Jacana will mean increased access to private equity investment, dedicated investment teams on-the-ground coupled with international private equity expertise and larger deal sizes of between $1m-$5m.
InReturn has rebranded as Jacana Partners. The two firms have been working together for 3 years. Jacana’s West African operations (previously Fidelity Capital Partners) rebranded in August 2012. This creates a leading pan-African SME private equity firm with pan-African coverage which will manage the new $75m SME fund expected to close later this year.
Jacana currently operates in 6 markets (Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda) and intends to move into 2 new countries with the new fund, possibly Ethiopia, Nigeria and/or Francophone West Africa. It is the only pan-African private equity company with a permanent commitment to the SME sector.
Jacana has invested over $20m to date in 20 portfolio companies employing over 1,300 people. In East Africa, 5 investments have been made to date in a stone quarry, an eye care centre, a supplier of tarpaulins to the relief sector, a serviced office provider and a logistics company and several other transactions are contemplated in the next few months.
Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya commented in a Jacana press release: “East Africa is undergoing a period of rapid economic growth largely fuelled by the expansion of our small-to-medium sized enterprises – key generators of job creation and GDP growth. The merger being rolled out today brings scale to the financing of SMEs which will boost their contribution to East Africa’s economic growth. It is my expectation that we shall see more similar initiatives to scale up financing to SMEs that lie at the heart of development blueprints for governments in the region.’’
Passionate about Africa’s entrepreneurs
Getting closer: Ezra Musoke (left) and Anthony Gichini (right) of InReturn Capital flank Simon Merchant CEO of Jacana Partners.
Anthony Gichini, Partner at InReturn Capital said: “The merger of InReturn Capital with Jacana Partners represents a big step forward in private equity investment for SMEs in East Africa. Jacana’s unique model combines international private equity experts with highly-experienced local teams, meaning our entrepreneurs benefit from strategic advice from international business experts as well as dedicated African investment managers on-the-ground who can add-value and provide hands-on management support. This combination is our winning formula which helps us build strong businesses and deliver superior returns.”
Simon Merchant, CEO of Jacana says: “Jacana Partners is a pan-African private equity firm that invests in entrepreneurs, builds successful SMEs and delivers sustainable financial and social returns. We do this because we are passionate about entrepreneurs as the key drivers of job creation and long-term economic development in Africa. Jacana is uniquely structured to overcome the challenges of private equity investing in SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Combining internationally experienced private equity veterans with highly skilled teams on-the-ground, Jacana has the experience, knowledge and resources to structure great deals, grow sustainable businesses and deliver superior returns.
“By merging our African and European operations, we are consolidating our business into a single fund manager, operating under the Jacana brand. As well as investing the remaining capital from our existing funds, the new Jacana will deploy a new $75m SME fund that we are currently in the processing of raising from international investors.
“The new fund will allow us to significantly increase the scale and geographic reach of our operations and will be invested in SMEs in up to 8 countries in East and West Africa. We firmly believe that a unified Jacana operating under the unique Jacana identity is the optimal platform upon which we can fulfill our mission of building the best SME private equity team in Africa, creating sustainable jobs and supporting long-term economic growth.”
November 28th, 2012 by Tom Minney
The 86 emerging markets members of the world’s securities markets regulator, International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) (www.iosco.org), form 80% of IOSCO membership and are increasingly important in the global economy. They have backed the setting up of IOSCO Foundation, to boost funding so IOSCO can scale up research, education and training and technical assistance. IOSCO, the leading international policy forum for securities regulators, is recognized as the global standard setter. The organization’s membership regulates more than 95% of the world’s securities markets in 115 jurisdictions and it continues to expand.
IOSCO’s Emerging Markets Committee (EMC) met on 19-21 Nov in Santiago, Chile, and was reported in this IOSCO news release. It includes the world’s fastest growing economies and 10 members of the important G-20 group of countries. New members are still joining, boosting its role in IOSCO. The Chairman of EMC has a seat on IOSCO’s influential Financial Stability Board.
EMC Chairman Vedat Akgiray of the Capital Markets Board, Turkey said: “Since the distribution of global economic wealth is continuously changing in favour of today’s rapidly growing emerging markets, as the future candidates for being developed economies, ‘proper’ securities regulation in today’s emerging markets is tantamount to ‘proper’ regulation of tomorrow’s developed markets. Therefore, emerging markets within IOSCO and the global financial system are much more important than they were in the past.”
A task force is working on ensuring emerging markets have a stronger voice in IOSCO. According to Akgiray: “A stronger role for the EMC in the future is supported by its members, given its growing importance in the global financial markets and international bodies. The new structure and the functions of the EMC in IOSCO after 2014 will be designed in the coming months, with more importance given to market development and capacity building activities.”
EMC members also debated their perceptions of major emerging risks in their jurisdictions, as part of an IOSCO effort to anticipate systemic risks before they disrupt markets. They warned of spill-over effects from developed economies’ crises, the unintended consequences of some global regulatory reforms as they are applied to emerging markets, sudden capital withdrawals and their impact on liquidity, and the expanding regulatory perimeter. Members highlighted the following as major concerns and challenges, among others:
• Capacity-building, investor education, financial inclusion and literacy to rebuild trust in capital markets;
• Strengthening corporate governance, developing SME financing and corporate bond markets;
• Predominance of bank financing;
• Complex financial products and institutions;
• Risk management and risk-based supervision,
• Development of corporate bond markets
Foundation
IOSCO secretary-general David Wright who started in March (see IOSCO press release) said one of his core priorities was boosting IOSCO’s funding to help aid its work in assisting emerging market regulators with technical advice. He was reported on eFinancial News as saying: “Helping develop emerging markets’ securities markets and ensuring that they are fully on board at a decision-making level is fundamentally important to the global economy.
“As banks become ever more constrained in terms of leverage, and the public sector is starved of cash for years, if not decades, then the securities markets will have to play a much greater role in capital allocation. For that reason, we must have a vision for a truly global securities market, based on the application of rigorous standards.”
The Foundation is to be proposed at the IOSCO Board meeting in March 2013 in Sydney. Paul Muthaura, Acting CEO of the Capital Markets Authority Kenya, said: “The Capital Markets Authority Kenya and indeed the whole East African Securities Regulatory Community warmly welcome the launch of the IOSCO Foundation. This initiative is central to mobilizing the critical resources necessary for capacity building, training exposure and research support that are at the core of supporting emerging markets to converge with international standards of the Foundation.”
MMoU
A key tool of IOSCO is the framework for the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of Information which enables regulators to exchange information in the case of an investigation, boosting international enforcement and effective global regulation of securities markets. IOSCO members who have not yet signed are encouraged to do so by January 2013. So far 89 IOSCO members have signed and another 30 are invited to be listed in Appendix B, members who are committed to becoming signatories but lack legal authority to comply. Two members of EMC have not applied to sign the MMoU. South Africa, Nigeria and most recently Tanzania are Appendix A signatories in Africa, as reported on this blog in May.
Ranjit Ajit Singh, the Vice Chair of the EMC and Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia, said: “Our role as securities regulators in emerging markets has become undeniably more challenging as capital markets in emerging economies grow in size and take on a more significant role in financing global economic growth. The Emerging Markets Committee will therefore need to play an increasingly more significant role within IOSCO and the wider regulatory policy framework to contribute to international efforts in regulatory reform and market stability.”
NOTE: Vedat Akgiray, Chairman of IOSCO’s Emerging Markets Committee, Vice Chairman of IOSCO’s board and Chairman of the Capital Markets Board in Turkey will be a speaker on the panel “Capital Market Reforms: Impact of Global Regulations on Emerging Market Economie” next Monday (3 Dec) at the African Stock Exchanges Association conference (ASEA 2012) in Cairo, Egypt. Other speakers are Dr Ashraf El Sharkawy, Chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) and Bob Singletary, PFS Senior Capital Markets Advisor and Principal, Lenzie Fisher Hendry LLC (and I will be moderator). For more details of the conference, look here: http://www.aseaegypt2012.org.
November 27th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Yields are rising on Tanzania’s 364-day Treasury bills, although demand continues strong, according to the auction results posted on the website of the central Bank of Tanzania and to local news reports citing a market report from Barclays Bank. The average yield-to-maturity was 13.43% (up from 13.18% at the previous auction) on the 364-days bills, 12.86% on the 182-days paper, 11.76% on 91-days and 7.25% on 35 days.
The total amount sought in the 21 November auction was TZS135 billion ($84.2 million) but this was oversubscribed and a total of TZS199bn was offered (48% over-subscribed), so the Government settled on taking TZS168bn. The biggest demand was for the one-year paper, with TZS87.7bn bid against TZS45bn offered with the Government taking TZS71bn. The 91-day was undersubscribed with TZS23bn bid against TZS40bn offered.
According to the press reports of Barclays market report: “The T-Bills auction on Wednesday saw insignificant interest rate change across all tenors as 6-months’ rate remained unchanged, 35- and 91- days bills dropped by 37 and 17 basis points respectively while one-year bill increased by 25 basis points.”
The main investors in Government securities are pension Funds and commercial banks who took more than 60% of the market, followed by insurance funds and a few micro-finance institutions.
October 5th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Leading African private equity group Actis has won the title for “Best Developer in Africa” in the 8th annual global Euromoney Real Estate Survey run by finance magazine Euromoney. To collect data for the award, Euromoney was canvassing the opinions of senior real-estate bankers, developers, investment managers, corporate end-users and advisory firms in over 70 countries since March. It was the biggest Euromoney real estate poll with over 1,900 responses. Actis invests mainly in retail and office developments in high-growth markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia. It launched its first real estate fund in 2006 and concentrates on institutional quality investments. It is sub-Saharan Africa’s most experienced private equity real estate investor and developer, according to a press release.
Current Actis developments include Ghana’s first green-certified building One Airport Square in Accra; East Africa’s biggest retail centre Garden City in Nairobi, and Ikeja City Mall in Lagos which welcomed 45,000 people on its first day of trading in December 2011. Past investments include Accra Mall in Accra and The Junction in Nairobi.
According to the press release, David Morley, Head of Real Estate at Actis, said: “Sub-Saharan Africa has a population of 800 million people and is the fastest urbanising region in the world; an increasingly sophisticated consumer class seek places to live, eat, shop and relax in the face of chronic undersupply. There is tremendous opportunity for those who take up the challenge and we are very proud to see our work recognised in this way.” Euromoney Editor Clive Horwood said, “The winners of this year’s Euromoney survey are those that exhibited the ability to innovate and make best use of the inherent strengths of their organisation. In Africa, in particular, there are great opportunities for those companies best equipped to operate in challenging markets. Through the Euromoney real estate survey, the market has recognised Actis as the leader in this field.”
Nairobi’s Garden City
In July Actis confirmed its investment in Nairobi’s Garden City, a 32-acre mixed use development on the recently expanded 8-lane Thika Highway. This will be a 50,000 sqm retail mall, with commercial premises, 500 new homes and a 4-acre central park, offering family friendly leisure space for Kenyans and visitors to the city. The park will also house an outdoor events arena for the staging of concerts and shows. Groundbreaking is due in December 2012 and completion targeted for May 2014, according to a press release.
Actis is working with leading retailers, including a flagship store for South Africa’s Game, their first in Kenya. Letting is underway with specialist agents Knight Frank Kenya and Broll in South Africa. There are detailed discussions with other foreign retailers looking to enter the rapidly-expanding Kenyan market, such as South African fashion group, Foschini. There is a strong focus on environmental features and the aim is to achieve the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for a retail mall in East Africa. This brings down operating costs for tenants by reducing electricity and water consumption.
Accra Mall sold
In May Actis confirmed that it had sold its 85% shareholding in Ghana’s Accra Mall to South Africa’s commercial and retail property developer Atterbury and financial services group Sanlam. Actis managed the development process, invested the equity and raised the debt to finance the project, working in partnership with renowned Ghanaian entrepreneurs, the Owusu-Akyaw family. The mall opened its doors in July 2008 fully let, and attracts 135,000 shoppers each week, according to a press release.
Accra Mall is Ghana’s first A-grade shopping and leisure centre, home to international brands such as Shoprite and Game, as well as Ghanaian brands including Kiki Clothing and Nallem. The trade sale demonstrates an increasing interest in Ghana by foreign investors and also reflects the acute demand for high quality real estate assets in sub-Saharan Africa.
Actis 100% owned
Also in May, Actis said it had bought the UK Government’s remaining 40% shareholding in the company. In the deal announced on 1 May, the government will receive a cash payment of US$13m (£8m) and will participate in future profits as Actis’s investments are realised over the next decade. To date, Actis has invested £1.7bn on behalf of the UK government’s direct finance institution CDC and has returned £3.1bn to CDC and by extension the British taxpayer.
Paul Fletcher, Senior Partner at Actis, said: “When Actis opened for business in 2004 our purpose was to attract private capital to countries that were dependent on aid and to legitimise them as investment destinations. Over the last eight years our work in Africa, Asia and Latin America, investing in over 70 companies employing 113,000 people, has shown what is possible. Successive governments have shown real vision backing a private sector model like Actis. We are pleased that HMG has realised the value of their decision to support Actis from the start. We look forward to continuing our work, investing in high quality companies in high growth countries and delivering strong returns for our investors.”
July 10th, 2012 by Tom Minney
Voxtra East Africa Agribusiness Fund (www.voxtra.org), a Norwegian social investor, has completed an inaugural investment of US$1.5 million in Mtanga Farms Limited (MFL), a commercial farm in Tanzania which grows seeds, crops and livestock. This is first of Voxtra’s target of 8 to 10 investments targeting companies with pivotal roles in improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The adviser for MFL was the UK’s Lion’s Head Global Partners (www.lhgp.com).
MFL is an integrated agri-business based in Iringa, Tanzania. Its farms on 2,600 hectares of land that was previously farmed but had been long neglected in 2009, when MFL secured its long-term lease of the land. It has made progress in rehabilitating the land and putting in place essential infrastructure. The focus is on high-value seed crops, centred around setting up a seed potato operation providing clean seed potatoes to smallholder farmers across Tanzania. It also works in protein including growing animal feed, livestock breeding and downstream processing of meat. The company is run by a dedicated team of farmers and business developers, and is now recognized as the leading integrated farming operation in the Southern Tanzanian Highlands. Core to the company’s strategy is the provision of improved seed material to local smallholder farmers.
Voxtra’s investment will enable MFL to take its seed potato business to a commercial scale, triple its farmed acreage and significantly ramp up its expanding livestock operation.
Leading impact investors
Several leading impact investors are backing Mtanga Farms, including Thirty Degrees East (Mauritian investment company), Lion’s Head Global Partners, Calvert Foundation (US), Nigerian investment firm Heirs Holdings and its philanthropic arm, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, as well as the African Enterprise Challenge Fund.
African green revolution
According to a LHGP press release: “African agriculture needs a green revolution that is powered by an emerging class of sustainable small and medium enterprises. SMEs are best placed to increase local food production and integrate local farmers into value chains and create employment.” Kim Wahl, Chairman of Voxtra, said: “MFL is a prime example of a business whose commercial success goes hand-in-hand with its social impact. The company is already playing a catalytic role in transforming potato farming in Tanzania, and we are excited about this opportunity to help grow the business.”
In partnership with the Tanzanian Government, MFL recently announced the registration of 4 new potato varieties – the first varieties to be released in Tanzania in 30 years. Whilst potatoes are a major cash and food crop for Tanzanian smallholder farmers, the lack of clean seed material has long been a major impediment to farmers’ productivity. MFL’s clean seed potato will enable a tripling of smallholder farmers’ yields: whereas the national average potato yield is 5-7 tonnes/ha, smallholders have demonstrated yields of 15-20 tonnes/ha when planting clean seed. By scaling up its production of clean seed potato, MFL will provide a pathway out of poverty for a sector employing an estimated 150,000 smallholder farmers.
Voxtra intends to make use of its technical assistance facility – funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) – to evaluate, support and increase the social impact made by MFL.
About the investors
The Voxtra East Africa Agribusiness Fund invests growth capital in commercially viable but capital-constrained agribusinesses that play pivotal roles in improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. First closing was on 9 November 2011, at NOK 65m (approximately US$12m). Among the shareholders are institutional investors such as Norfund, Grieg International and Kavlifondet, as well as private individuals in Scandinavia.
Lion’s Head Global Partners is a UK-based merchant bank, offering financial advice and fund management with a focus on emerging markets and Africa. For more information, visit www.lhgp.com.
Thirty Degrees East is a private Mauritian-based investment company focused predominantly on East Africa and South Africa.
The Calvert Foundation provides impact investment opportunities that aim to bring a financial return to investors and a social benefit to low-income communities in the U.S. and around the world. A pioneer in the impact investment field, Calvert Foundation investors have created over 528,000 jobs, built over 20,000 affordable homes, and financed over 27,000 non-profit facilities and social enterprises through investment in the Community Investment Note. Learn more at www.calvertfoundation.org.
Heirs Holdings is an African proprietary investment company with a long-term investment horizon in key economic sectors that can propel Africa’s economic development. Heirs Holdings is committed to the economic transformation of Africa through investments that create both economic prosperity and social wealth. For more information, visit www.heirsholdings.com.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is an Africa-based and African-funded not-for-profit institution dedicated to the promotion and celebration of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa. As a 21st century catalytic philanthropy, the Foundation is committed to the economic transformation of Africa by enhancing the competitiveness and growth of the African private sector. Founded in 2010 by Tony O. Elumelu, MFR, the Foundation identifies and addresses systemic challenges that inhibit African entrepreneurs. For more information on The Tony Elumelu Foundation, visit www.tonyelumelufoundation.org, follow us on Twitter @TE_Foundation or like The Tony Elumelu Foundation Facebook page.
The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) invites private sector companies to compete for investment support for their new and innovative business ideas in agri-business, rural financial services and renewable energy. To qualify for AECF funding, a business idea must have a positive impact on the rural poor in Africa, delivering increased employment, reduced costs, and improved productivity. The AECF runs competitions open only to for-profit-companies. For more information on the AECF please visit www.aecfafrica.org or email info@aecfafrica.org.”
July 6th, 2012 by Tom Minney
The 10 stock exchanges of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are working together to increase the effectiveness of their markets. The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) has agreed to concentrate on 6 priority areas in support of regional moves to more efficient capital markets.
The stock exchanges will explore ways to use technology to link their trading and order systems and work together to ensure clearing and settlement systems align with global standards adopted in April. They are working closely with SADC institutions to support development of regional systems, including payment and will boost visibility of trading data and enhance their joint website (www.cossesadc.org), launched in April by the JSE and I-Net Bridge. The bourses will also pool resources to accelerate training and skills development for capital markets staff.
CoSSE members are Botswana Stock Exchange, Malawi Stock Exchange, Stock Exchange of Mauritius, Bolsa de Valores de Moçambique, Namibian Stock Exchange, South Africa’s JSE Ltd, Swaziland Stock Exchange, Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange of Tanzania, Zambia’s Lusaka Stock Exchange, and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. They met on 25 June in Gaborone, Botswana in a meeting convened by CoSSE with support from SADC Secretariat.
“Stock exchanges have their roles cut out in each of our economies to augment our governments’ efforts to grow national economies for the greater good and as part of the SADC region’s struggle for growth to escape poverty,” says Mrs Beatrice Nkanza, Chairperson of CoSSE and CEO of the Lusaka Stock Exchange. “They are the channel for long-term risk capital, which is urgently needed for the region’s businesses, infrastructure providers and even governments. They also encourage saving and investment. CoSSE members are working closely together to support SADC initiatives and to make individual markets even more effective”.
CoSSE was set up in 1997 as a collective body of the stock exchanges in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It promotes co-operation and collaboration between member stock exchanges and is resourced by a Secretariat, supported by the JSE. SADC defines CoSSE’s role in the Finance and Investment Protocol and other policy documents and CoSSE has links to ministerial and senior treasury bodies and also works closely with the Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Banking Financial Authorities (CISNA) and the Committee of Central Bank Governors (CCBG).
CoSSE had set up three working committees to implement six business plans, prioritized from the initiatives identified in its Strategic Plan 2011-2016. These are:
1. Legal and Secretariat working committee – chaired by Geoff Rothschild of the JSE. This is responsible for formalizing and resourcing the Secretariat, and for continuing and improving liaison with CISNA and other SADC organs.
2. Market Development working committee – chaired by Vipin Mahabirsingh of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. CoSSE has been developing models for inter-connectivity between automated trading systems at some or all member exchanges. The working committee will help member exchanges ensure their clearing and settlement systems comply with new global standards and support regional initiatives.
3. Capacity-Building and Visibility working committee – chaired by Anabela Chambuca Pinho of the Bolsa de Valores de Moçambique. This will liaise with member exchanges, regulators, stockbrokers, investors and others to develop and coordinate training courses. It will also enhance the new CoSSE website, help members to upgrade their own websites and to ensure their trading data and company news are disseminated internationally.
Progress will be guided by an Executive Committee, consisting of CoSSE Chairperson Mrs Nkanza, CoSSE Vice-Chairperson Gabriel Kitua (CEO of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania) and the three working committee chairpersons. The strategic plan was developed with assistance from FinMark Trust.
For more information contact
• Beatrice Nkanza, CEO Lusaka Stock Exchange, tel +260 (1) 228391 or email nkanzab [at] luse.co.zm
• Gabriel Kitua, CEO Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, tel +255 22 2135779 or email gabriel.kitua [at] dse.co.tz.
• Pearl Moatshe of CoSSE Secretariat, tel +27 11 5207118 or email pearlm [at] jse.co.za
June 6th, 2012 by Tom Minney
The best in African banking was celebrated recently at the 6th edition of the African Banker Awards, under the patronage of the African Development Bank (www.afdb.org) and African Banker magazine (www.africasia.com/africanbanker). The awards highlight outstanding talent and achievement in Africa’s financial sector. Top African Ministers of Finance, central bank governors, bank CEOs, senior executives and others gathered in Arusha, Tanzania in the shadow of Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro.
There was a moving moment when Ecobank CEO, Arnold Ekpe, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the founder and chairman of IC Publications, (publisher of African Banker), Afif Ben Yedder. Ekpe was given a standing ovation. Ecobank, based in Togo and spread across Africa, beat strong challengers to emerge as the Bank of the Year. There were more cheers when Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder and CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, was named as African Banker Icon 2012.
Olusegun Agbaje, Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria was awarded the prize for African Banker of the year by Tim Turner, Director of the Private Sector Operations of the AfDB.
The Best Regional Bank winners from each of the five regions of Africa were: Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco for North Africa; BGFI, Gabon for Central Africa; Bank of Kigali, Rwanda for East Africa; Access Bank, Nigeria for West Africa; and BCI, Mozambique for Southern Africa- thus highlighting Africa’s diversity but strength as one continent.
IC Publisher Omar ben Yedder said: “We have recognized some superb individuals and institutions tonight. Africa’s financial sector is a major vehicle for driving the economic growth that has become the talk of the investor community around the world. We have honoured individuals who are prepared to take the bull by the horn, to carry out well thought out visions and who have raised the bar and in some cases taken difficult decisions to deliver on their agenda. Good examples are the Central Bank Governor of Tunisia and the Finance Minister of Guinea. The winners this year represent a good mix between francophone and Anglophone Africa, big and small countries. They reflect the achievements in banking and finance all over Africa.”
The African Banker Awards are organised by African Banker magazine, IC Events and BusinessinAfrica Events.
African Banker was launched in 2007 and is the only pan-African magazine dedicated to banking on the continent and is published in French and in English. It has become an essential tool of the people and institutions that pull the strings in Africa’s banking and finance industries.
Declaration of Interest: I am a judge of the African Banker Awards 2012 and 2011 and I also write for African Banker magazine.
Photo here:
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.
