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 regional forum, the East African Securities Regulatory Authorities (EASRA), is seeking to create a harmonized licensing framework for the region for brokers and dealers, and has also approved draft regulations on book-building for adoption by its members. The draft book-building regulations are to be shared with stakeholders in the member States and their views [...]
The 86 emerging markets members of the world’s securities markets regulator, International Organization of Securities Commissions form 80% of IOSCO membership and are increasingly important in the global economy. They back setting up IOSCO Foundation, to boost funding so IOSCO can scale up research, education and training and technical assistance.
Lots of useful commentary is published this week about what’s going wrong with the world’s leading capital markets and finance and it has lots of useful insights for those involved in developing Africa’s capital markets. The latest bout of soul-searching follows the publication of Prof John Kay’s “The Kay Review of UK Equity Markets and Long-Term Decision Making” on 23 July.
The first offshore company was approved to be listed for trading on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Evisa Investments Ltd, which has invested in Kenyan insurance, has a Global Business Licence Category 1, approved by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission.
Mega-mergers and competition continues among the world’s biggest exchanges, despite the move by European regulators to ban Deutsche Börse (DB) and NYSE Euronext (NYX) from forming the world’s biggest exchange. Both are stepping up activities in selling exchange technology and looking at other new directions.
The Securities Commission of Zimbabwe (www.seczim.co.zw) has declined to grant the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (www.zse.co.zw – under maintenance), an operating licence, according to local media, and is challenging the exchange to provide a business plan.
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.
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.
The Uganda Securities Exchange has today (7 March) extended its trading to 5 days a week, up from 3 days. USE Chief Executive Joseph Kitamirike said it would help meet local and international demand. It will also match trading on other East African exchanges, as the exchanges harmonize in terms of an East African common market.
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.