Tunisia Stock Exchange positive on economic prospects
Share prices on the Tunisian Stock Exchange have been moving ahead all November, starting with a positive reaction to the meeting between Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Ennahda party and stock market executives only days after the election and moving forward as the politics progressed well.
Namibia’s first US$500m Eurobond
The Namibian government issued a debut US$500 million, 10-year Eurobond on 27 October and got a price of 5.75%, taking advantage of a lull in the capital markets turmoil.
Caravan Capital plans $90m into African equities
Caravan Capital Management, an investment fund based in the USA, aims to invest up to $90 million in African equity frontier markets. The fund has invested in 36 countries considered as frontier markets.
Bank of Kigali IPO lifts Rwanda Stock Exchange: 52% gain on first day
Interest in share offers is high on the Rwanda Stock Exchange, after shares of Bank of Kigali (BK) rose 52% to RWF190 in their first day of trading on 1 September.
Electronic trading and central securities depository coming for Zimbabwe?
A company has been engaged to switch the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange to electronic trading and Cabinet has discussed this and setting up a Central Securities Depository by year-end.
Casablanca Stock Exchange grants to encourage SMEs
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.
Tullow Oil listing to double value of shares on Ghana Stock Exchange
Tullow Oil plc is to start trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange on 27 July after allocating 3,531,546 ordinary shares of 10p each in a successful offer. The company says this is the largest primary share offer completed on the GSE and will more than double the market capitalisation.
Revolution at Egyptian Exchange – innovations to boost liquidity
The Egyptian Exchange is to introduce new products and trading innovations, including remote orders placed abroad, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), intraday trades and short selling. Mohamed Abdel Salam, chairman of the Exchange, says transparency is up and political uncertainty down in Egypt.
Wind of change blows world markets, African stock exchanges unruffled
I have the honour to be published on the opinions section of the Royal African Society website and the article can be seen along with their excellent blogs I also reprint the article, which is meant to spark debate, and I welcome your comments – is it time for change and what is the way forward?
Rwanda Government to raise $42 mn by selling shares in Bank of Kigali and MTN
The Rwandan Government plans to raise Rwf25 billion ($42.2 million) through the sale of its shares in Bank of Kigali Ltd and telecom company MTN Rwanda in coming months. The bank is Rwanda’s biggest lender by assets. Government will sell a 20% stake and the bank will add a further 25% stake in an Initial Public Offering scheduled for June.
Senegal’s $500m Eurobond offers good yield
Senegal has successfully re-priced its yield curve by issuing a more liquid 10-year $500 million Eurobond carrying a coupon of 8.75%. The bond was priced at 97.57 when it was bid on 6 May, the equivalent of a yield of 9.125%.
Sub-Sahara investment banking fees $157 mn for 3 months
Fee income from investment banking in sub-Saharan Africa more than doubled to US$157 million during Q1 of 2011, compared to same period in 2010. Of this $80 mn (51%) was earned on merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, according to a leaflet and press release from Reuters Deals Intelligence.
Tunisian and Egyptian regulators freeze securities trading pending investigation
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.
Egyptian Exchange opens, hit by giant wave of selling
The Egyptian Exchange opened today at 10:30am after nearly 2 months, and was immediately swamped with a flood of selling, which saw the index plunge nearly 10% and trading halted a few minutes after the exchange opened. After a regulated halt, the EGX 30 Benchmark slowly edged up before drifting through to close at 5,142.71 after a further 2 hours, down 8.9% on the day.
Top investment conference this week in London
Leading investors and institutions are to discuss transactions and trends in Africa’s capital markets during the Africa investor 2011 Analysts’ and Fund Managers’ Forum to be held in London. The one-day meeting will be held in association with Thomson Reuters, at their headquarters in London on 24 March.
BRVM flees war and restarts trading from Mali
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.
London and Johannesburg stock exchanges migrate to Millennium Exchange system
The main trading platform of the London Stock Exchange was successfully switched from the previous system yesterday (14 Feb) to the Millennium Exchange computer system. Africa’s biggest exchange, the JSE Ltd announced on 3 Feb that it had concluded a licensing agreement with MillenniumIT to move its equity market trading activity onto Millennium Exchange, planned for the first half of 2012. Millennium IT’s systems are widely installed in African stock exchanges.
Egyptian stock exchange delays reopening to 16 Feb
The Egyptian Exchange has postponed its reopening until Wednesday 16 February. The stock exchange closed on 27 Jan after the main EGX 30 Index fell 16% in a week, and was due to open again 13 Feb. Talks continue with regulators, stockbrokers and the Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry.
Investors optimistic about change in Egypt
Bulls seem to be waiting for a positive outcome from widespread pro-democracy unrest in Egypt, one of Africa’s biggest stock markets and prices have climbed for depository receipts of Egyptian companies and for an Egypt exchange-traded fund available internationally. The Egyptian Exchange has been closed for several days as unrest intensified.
Nigerian Stock Exchange Annual Review 2010
The Nigerian Stock Exchange reported on 19 January that a total volume of 93.3 billion shares valued at N797.6 billion (3.2% of gross domestic product) were traded in 2010, with volume down 9% and value up 16% compared to 2009 when 102.8 billion shares were traded, valued at N685.72 billion (2.9% of GDP).