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.

African Stock Exchanges Association conference tackles key issues

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.

Mobius remains bullish on Nairobi Securities Exchange, says FT

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.

Precision Air IPO launches tomorrow in Tanzania

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.

British American Investment launches Kenya IPO

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.

BRVM bourse comes home from 16 May

West Africa’s Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres BRVM regional stock exchange is to move trading operations back to Cote d’Ivoire next Monday (16 May), after moving to Mali to avoid a violent political crisis.

JSE revenues climb 9% despite challenging year

South Africa’s securities exchange the JSE Limited increased group revenues by 9% to R1,255 million ($178 mn) from R1,156 mn in 2009. Results were driven by strong performances from the cash equity market, information products sales and commodity derivatives.

Giant growth foreseen for African stock exchanges over 10 years

African exchanges could grow dramatically in both market capitalization and turnover in the coming decade, following the explosive trends already charted by the Indian and Chinese markets. This was the view of Sunil Benimadhu, President of the African Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA), speaking at an African investment conference organized by stockbroker Securities Africa in London on 14 March.

Stock exchange merger trend will end with “three, four” global exchanges

The world is moving into fast consolidation of stock exchanges through mergers and acquisitions among the world’s giant exchanges. London Stock Exchange chief executive Xavier Rolet said: “In five years there will be three, four international exchange groups with global distribution capabilities”.

Egyptian Exchange again delays reopening

The Egyptian Exchange has again postponed its reopening and says it will only open when the strike-hit banking system gets back to normal. Dates mentioned include 20 or 22 Feb, and the bourse is likely to introduce rules to limit trading volatility. It closed on 27 Jan after a 16% fall in its EGX30 Index.

Cote d’Ivoire defaults on $2.3bn Eurobonds

Cote d’Ivoire has formally reneged on $2.3 billion of Eurobonds, becoming the first nation to default since Jamaica in January 2010. The default comes after it was unable to pay $29 million of interest which had become due and after a 30-day grace period had expired. However, the market appears to have faith the crisis will eventually end.

London Stock Exchange sets love date for switch to MillenniumIT system

The London Stock Exchange is hoping for some love from traders, by announcing 14 February – Valentine’s Day – as the date to switch to anew system for its main SETS trading platform to systems provided by its subsidiary, MillenniumIT. The switch was delayed after a 2-hour outage on 2 November on the LSE’s Turquoise pan-European multi-lateral trading facility, already using technology provided by MillenniumIT.

Kenya regulator cuts bond charges, banks still push for bond OTC market

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority has cut the cost of trading bonds from 0.04% per cent (KSh400 for every KSh1 million transacted) to 0.035% (KSh350 for every KSh1 mn) in order to pass on the lower costs due to automated trading on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. Banks say they still want an Over-The-Counter market to trade bonds alongside the NSE.