Stock exchanges across Africa should be working towards regional integration, says Prime Minister of Rwanda Anastase Murekezi. He was guest speaker at the 20th African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) annual conference. The conference’s action agenda would see the regulated stock exchanges driving industrialization and economic transformation.
Panel discussions highlighted the opportunities for African exchanges, provided they adapt to meet the needs and demands of local investors and issuers. They must also find the balance between local context and environment, and alignment with global best practices.
Government support and engagement are keys to the success of exchanges and to providing the capital to grow economies. Governments should continue to create enabling environments that encourage investment, economic growth and development. Regulation should follow market needs and focus on supporting development as favourable regulatory frameworks are essential for sustainable economic growth.
Other challenges the exchanges should continue to work on include: financial inclusion or letting more people access the capital markets for investing and for raising long-term risk capital for their enterprises; financial literacy and investor education; product innovation including using technology and creating innovative platforms for new products; and finding ways to finance the missing middle of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.
Exchanges should encourage greater emphasis on environmental, social and governance components to enhance corporate transparency and performance.
Celestin Rwabukumba, CEO of the Rwanda Stock Exchange, said innovation and technology would enable Africa’s capital markets to harness resources to fuel structural transformation: “Currently, less than 5% of the African populace participate in the capital markets; this means that there is a huge opportunity to widen the base of African capital markets by incorporating new models based on technology and other creative innovations that target provision of direct linkages with the ordinary citizens in order to bring them in the loop of resource mobilization and utilization”.
The 20th ASEA conference brought together 300 delegates, including securities exchange CEOs, regulators, ministers, investors and others. It was held in Kigali on 28-29 November 2016. The theme was “Road to 2030: Making the African capital markets relevant to the real economy”.
Speakers included Claver Gatete, Rwandan Minister of Finance, and Prime Minister Murekezi delivered a message from the President of Rwanda, His Excellency Paul Kagame, in which he commended ASEA for its role in deepening the capital markets as a way of addressing the challenges that hampered Africa
Other speakers included Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, (former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria), Tonye Cole (founder of Sahara Group), Staci Warden (Executive Director, Milken Institute), Sandy Frucher (Vice Chairman of Nasdaq), Paul Muthaura (CEO Capital Markets Authority Kenya), David Grayson (Co-founder and CEO of Auerbach Grayson & Company), as well as CEOs from ASEA member exchanges.