The Government of Burkina Faso successfully listed two sovereign bonds on the regional stock exchange Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM) yesterday (10 September), raising XOF 129.7 billion ($217 million) and adding this to the market capitalization.
Burkina Faso is the second largest issuer of African sovereign bonds on the regional capital market, and has raised XOF 2.1 trillion ($3.5bn) overall to date. The Burkinabe Government Treasury (Trésor Public du Burkina Faso) has been careful to build its presence and links with investors.
According to the BRVM announcement, the bonds are the five-year TPBF 6.30% 2024-2029 (6,969,860 bonds of XOF 10,000 each) and the seven year TPBF 6.55% 2024-2031 (5,998,423 bonds of XOF 10,000 each). The funds raised are over the target XOF 120bn.
CEO Félix Edoh Kossi Amenounvé says so far 152 bonds have listed on the regional market. “Since 2020, our market has recorded, each year, more than XOF 2,000bn of listed bond securities: XOF 2,377bn in 2020, XOF 1,931bn in 2021, XOF 2,469bn in 2022, and XOF 2,680bn in 2023.”
He adds that the equity market capitalization of the BRVM stockmarket, with 46 listed companies including 3 companies from Burkina Faso, passed a record XOF 9 trillion on 9 August and stood at XOF 9,636bn ($16.2bn) on 10 September.
“This level of capitalization consolidates the BRVM in its position as the fifth African stock exchange, a level reached in September 2023, behind the Johannesburg, Casablanca, Egypt and Nigerian stock exchanges.”
Speaking at the listing ceremony, Amenounvé said there is still scope for further improvements “to go for a more structured, developed and harmonious sovereign and private debt market with innovative instruments that have proven successful in other markets, such as sustainable bonds (green, social, ethical and gender issues).. We also need new issuers such as local authorities, private companies, SMEs, real estate funds, etc.”
The BRVM is a ground-breaking and very successful regional African stock exchange for all eight Member States of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
** Quotes are auto-translated from Amenounvé’s LinkedIn post in French.
Photo: African Capital Markets News
