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
Leading African private equity firm Citadel Capital said that Egypt’s public prosecutor has lifted a travel ban imposed in April on its chairman Ahmed Heikal, according to Reuters. The company also announced Citadel Capital Partners Ltd. sold 13.4 million shares in Citadel Capital worth US$12.4 mn.
A panel is working on a proposed bill, the “Financial Report Proclamation of Ethiopia”, which could bring fundamental changes to Ethiopia’s financial reporting system by requiring compliance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS).
Zimbabwean private equity firm Brainworks Capital Management has reportedly launched a $20 million fund targeting Zimbabwe’s agriculture, financial services, mining and telecommunications sectors, according to a report on www.privateequityafrica.com.
Tunisian regulator Conseil de Marche Financier ordered stockbrokers not to allow 123 companies to trade securities as part of investigations into extensive holdings by the former president’s family.
Rebels in Cote d’Ivoire made rapid advances towards Abidjan yesterday (30 March), where fighting could be fierce. Prices rallied yesterday on the €2.3 Eurobond and Bloomberg reported a 7% climb to 42.688 cents in the dollar nominal value, while cocoa prices fell $70.
Rebel advances in Cote d’Ivoire are boosting the price of the country’s €2.3 bn Eurobond, which are in default since 1 Feb, in London trading. According to Bloomberg today (30 Mar), the advance boosted the dollar-denominated bonds to their highest in at least 2 months as they climbed 4.2% to 39.875 % of face value last night.
West Africa’s regional stock market the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (BRVM) has started trading from a new base in Bamako, Mali, after leaving Cote d’Ivoire because of the political crisis. Trading restarted in the new office on 1 March, but volumes are much lower.
African exchanges could grow dramatically in both market capitalization and turnover in the coming decade, following the explosive trends already charted by the Indian and Chinese markets. This was the view of Sunil Benimadhu, President of the African Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA), speaking at an African investment conference organized by stockbroker Securities Africa in London on 14 March.
The Egyptian Exchange has failed to meet another self-imposed deadline to reopen on 6 March, and investors are increasingly unhappy. In a statement on 3 March the stock exchange said the delay was linked to the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik.
Investor confidence in Egypt is likely to be further undermined after officials again delayed the reopening of the Egyptian Exchange from today (1 March). It was announced late on Monday that trading would not start today at 10:30am but would again be put off until Sunday, 6 March. There have been repeated delays to the reopening.