Archive for the 'Technology' Category
June 15th, 2010 by Tom Minney
Liquidity is up, while the number of days for settlement and cases of fraud are down in bond trading as fixed-income traders and investors flock to the Automated Trading System (ATS) of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE – www.nse.co.ke).
According to report in Kenya’s Business Daily (www.businessdailyafrica.com), citing data provided by NSE, the value of bonds traded by the end of May was KSh 177.5 billion ($2.2 billion), up 60% on the KSh 110.6 billion traded in the same period in 2009.
The report says that 90% of bonds traded are transacted by banks and institutions, such as fund managers. High-net-worth individuals are also active.
James Mutuku, Head of Asset Liability Management at Standard Chartered Bank, reportedly attributes the increased liquidity to the ATS – “At the moment the system is working very well” – and because banks are establishing dedicated bond trading desks. Reportedly some trades settle the day after the trade, because of the ATS efficiency, compared to a week previously.
Ronald Olembo, a fixed income analyst at CFC Stanbic Bank, is quoted saying that there is a better match between inflation and bond yields. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (www.centralbank.go.ke), annual inflation was 3.9% in May, compared to 26.6% in 2008 and 12.4% per cent in 2009. Last October the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics started using the geometric mean method to calculate inflation, which gives lower figures than the arithmetic mean method used previously. In April KNBS adjusted the basket of goods and services used to calculate the consumer price index. The central bank says it reflects changed consumer tastes and makes the inflation rate comparable with that in other countries.
Olembo reportedly compared present and past said that before.. “..We had 20-year bonds yielding approximately 12%, yet inflation was 26%. Investors are now seeing a positive real return on their investments.”
Cases of fraud have also reduced, increasing investor confidence.
June 14th, 2010 by Tom Minney
Adlevo Capital Managers (www.adlevocapital.com) announced on 10 June that it has completed the first closing of Adlevo Capital Africa LLC fund with capital commitments of US$52 million. The fund will make expansion capital investments into companies with technology-enabled business models across sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund has received capital commitments from development finance institutions and private institutional investors based in Europe, South Africa and the US. Adlevo Capital plans to hold additional closings for the fund over the next nine months with a final closing in the first quarter of 2011.
Yemi Lalude, founder and Managing Partner of Adlevo Capital, says in a press release: “We are very pleased to have attracted investments from several of the most successful Africa fund investors who, like us, see the growing scope for compelling technology-enabled company investments and believe that investments in this area will also provide positive social development outcomes. The Adlevo Capital team has developed a pipeline of attractive investment opportunities and is looking forward to commencing investments and working with the management teams of its portfolio companies.”
Adlevo Capital, a Mauritius-based fund manager, is the first private equity firm focused on investments into technology-enabled companies across multiple African countries. It aims to capitalize on growing investment opportunities in the technology-enabled service segments of multiple industry sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.
Its founders have a combination of private equity and operational IT experience in Africa and the United States. Through this and an extensive network of relationships, as well as offices in Lagos and Johannesburg, it aims to add significant value to portfolio companies.
In October 2008, the European Investment Bank (www.eib.org) announced it would be lead investor, committing $20 million. EIB said CDC Group (www.cdcgroup.com), the UK government-owned fund of funds, would join as the other lead investor with a commitment of $15 million.
At the time, in a press release Plutarchos Sakellaris, EIB Vice President responsible for lending operations in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions said: “This is a landmark project for the EIB and for the African technology sector. We are confident that Adlevo’s experienced management will build a portfolio of investments which provide strategic support for technology companies. Moreover, we hope that this operation will act as a catalyst to develop private equity and foreign direct investment in the region.”
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.