November 19th, 2009 by Tom Minney
The African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) is set to discuss “Global Crisis: Opportunities for African Capital Markets” within 2 weeks, at its next annual conference (www http://www.aseaabuja2009.com). The 13th ASEA conference will be hosted by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE – www.nigerianstockexchange.com) from 2-5 December 2009.
This is the leading annual meeting for stakeholders in Africa’s capital markets and securities exchanges, including stock exchange managers, regulators, clearing and settlement agencies, investors, stockbrokers, banks, issuers and listed companies, and other market stakeholders and intermediaries. ASEA (www.africansea.org) has 20 member exchanges, serving 27 countries as some are regional exchanges.
African markets were hard hit from 2008 as world stock prices plummeted. However many African companies’ earnings and business prospects were not harmed, due to economic delinkage, giving rise to buying opportunities. The crisis created urgency for creative strategic implementation, including further regional integration, stockmarket liquidity, and product diversity and risk management. Other discussions cover foreign investment, public-private partnerships and technology drivers for African growth and securities markets.
Wed 2 Dec will feature internal ASEA meetings. On Thur 3 Dec, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will be guest of honour. Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, will open the conference and other speakers should include ASEA President Maged Shawky, Daisy Ekineh, Acting DG of Nigeria’s Securities & Exchange Commission and Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi , Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Conference topics include:
• Attracting foreign investment,
• Role of stock exchanges in creating good governance,
• Development of pension funds as players in African markets,
• Exchange technology: acquisition costs, speed and efficiency, surveillance and risk .
• Integration through strategic relationships
• Infrastructure projects
• Stock exchange demutualization
ASEA’s aims are systematic mutual cooperation, joint programmes and exchange of information, materials and personnel between member securities exchanges. Regional financial integration will help the effective mobilization of capital to accelerate Africa-wide economic development.
November 12th, 2009 by Tom Minney
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE – www.nigerianstockexchange.com) on 9 November announced that it is seeking some N5 billion (US$33 million) in capital for its fifth software upgrade and also to help finance the Sierra Leone stock exchange.
NSE Director General Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke reportedly told local media that the exchange’s software has been upgraded four times, with the next in 2010, at a likely cost of 16 mln-20 mln euros ($24 mln-$30 mln). She added that the London Stock Exchange had reportedly spent 30 mln euro on its software, and talks continue on how the LSE could help in Nigeria.
Apparently donors gave grants to Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to upgrade their stockmarkets, but believe that Nigeria is too rich to need this.
The Sierra Leone stock exchange was launched by Sierra Leone President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma on 17 July 2009, after being inaugurated in 2007. According to Nigerian media, the NSE launched the Sierra Leone exchange free of charge and now seeks financing for electronic trading there. The Sierra Leone exchange is under the wing of the central Bank of Sierra Leone (www.bankofsierraleone-centralbank.org). Okereke-Onyiuke said the NSE assisted Ghana previously and plans to help Liberia open a stock market.
According to other reports, the NSE earlier this year cut its holdings in the Central Securities Clearing System Ltd (www.cscsnigerialtd.com) from 100% to 30%, after a private placement of the shares.
The CSCS is the clearing house and central securities depository of the Nigerian stock market. It includes an integrated central securities depository (CSD) offering clearing (electronic book-entry transfer of shares from seller to buyer) and settlement (payment from buyer to seller) for all NSE transactions. All securities listed for trading on the NSE must have their certificates deposited in CSCS before transactions can take place. The CSCS was incorporated in July 1992 and started operating in April 1997.
She is reported to have told the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets: “We had to do this because our shareholders wanted to have better stake in the company, and again it gives room for proper corporate governance and a sense of belonging to all our stakeholders.”
September 18th, 2009 by Tom Minney
Some US$8 billion was invested in developing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Africa in 2008. According to Nigeria’s Daily Independent newspaper (www.independentngonline.com) the Secretary-General of International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Hamadoun Toure, announced this at a recent African Telecom Development Summit 2009, held in Abuja, Nigeria, praising the advances of the last 10 years.
The report quotes Toure: ”It has been an extraordinary decade for Africa and it gives me great personal pleasure to see how the continent has taken huge steps forward in bringing connectivity to African people. Just ten years ago, virtually nobody in Africa had a mobile phone; today across the continent mobile cellular subscription teledensity has reached 32.6%, with some 250 million subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa” – creating enormous progress in Internet access.
Nigeria is the largest market, with over a quarter of all subscriptions. Toure says more than 30 mln Africans now have access to the Internet. Between 2000 and 2008, Nigeria alone has added 11 mln new Internet users, 40% of the new users in Africa. But Africa still lags in broadband access, with only 635,000 fixed broadband subscribers.
Toure is the first African elected as the Secretary-General of ITU, umbrella body of more than 700 telecommunications organizations. He called for developments in policy and regulatory frameworks and political will by African Governments to promote ICT roll-out.