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 Initial Public Offer by power company Umeme closed on 7 November and results are expected before the listing on 30 November. Before the close, commentators said there was a turnup of applications and that the International Finance Corporation had invested, but parliamentarians called for an inquiry.
Uganda’s only power distributor, Umeme, said it plans to raise capital to invest in Uganda’s electricity sector through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Ugandan and Nairobi securities exchanges later in 2012
The number of investors from other East African countries opening trading accounts at Kenya’s Nairobi Stock Exchange is still very small, but has grown more consistently in the last 2 years than other categories of investors.
Developing Africa’s securities exchanges is critical for the continent’s development, with capital markets standing between huge demand for capital for growth and huge demand to invest. The key issues are on the agenda of The 15th Annual African Securities Exchange Association conference (in Marrakesh, Morocco), hosted by Casablanca Stock Exchange, 12-13 December.
Mark Mobius, veteran emerging markets investor and head of Templeton Emerging Markets, is bullish about the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), although it is the worst-performing stock market in sub-Saharan Africa this year, according to the Financial Times.
The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 58,841,750 shares at TSh 475 (US$ 28 cents) each in Tanzania’s Precision Air Services is set to start on 7 October and continue to 28 October, aiming for a listing and trading on the Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange from 8 December.
Kenyan financial services firm British-American Investments Company Ltd. said on 23 August that its initial public offering (IPO) had only attracted 60.09% of the targeted KSh5.85 billion ($63million).
Morocco’s Casablanca Stock Exchange is offering grants to small and medium enterprises to encourage them to raise capital. The first listing of 2011 was 8.7x over-subscribed.
The Bourse des Valeurs Mobilières de Tunis (BVMT – Tunis Stock Exchange), aims to support role in faster economic growth and has a 5-point development strategy. A share offer in May was 3.2 times oversubscribed.
British American Investment Company (Kenya) Ltd launched its initial public offer (IPO) this week. It aims to raise KES 5.58 billion (US$62.2 million) for expansion. The offer is open until 5 August, and it to list its shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.