News and developments on African capital markets, includes: African securities, African stock exchanges/stock markets, African equities, African bonds, African private equity/venture capital, and African social impact investment
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, and the African Development Bank are to work together to facilitate local currency lending and bond issuance in Africa. They signed an ISDA Master Agreement for this.
A new securities exchange in Lusaka, BaDEx (Bonds and Derivatives Exchange Zambia) is installing tried-and-tested bond and derivative trading software from South Africa’s STT Software, which supplies the JSE, and says it will be ready to launch operations next month, May 2012. BaDEx trading platforms will include spot and derivative trading in bonds, currency, commodities (such as derivatives on metals and silo certificates on the spot market) and a variety of other derivatives including agricultural commodities, precious metals, equity and energy.
The JSE will introduce its third wheat futures contract, with a cash-settled contract based on hard red winter wheat, referencing the Kansas City Board of Trade’s benchmark settlement prices. The contract will be introduced on 28 March with expiry dates in July, September, and December 2012 and March 2013.
PLUS Markets, a British-regulated investment exchange for trading the shares of small companies, has put itself up for sale on 3 Feb.
FTSE has launched a FTSE-ASEA index with the African Securities Exchanges Association, which will help to unlock Africa an investment for larger portfolio investors. The index covers stocks on 16 exchanges and is adjusted for investibility, including free float and liquidity.
South Africa’s JSE Ltd reported a 22% increase in net profit after tax to R253.8 million for the 6 months to June, driven by a 7% increase in revenue combined with controlled operating costs. The bourse declared a special dividend of 210c/share.
South Africa’s securities exchange, the JSE Ltd, is to launch a set of exotic currency products after demand from some South African banks. These derivatives give investors the advantages of listed derivatives but are as flexible as over-the-counter contracts.