Ethiopia roundup – Awash 4th investment bank, Kenyans taking interest, ECMA social warnings
Awash Capital S.C. is the latest Ethiopian investment bank to be licensed by the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA). It received the licence on 19 November, and is the 4th investment bank licensed for Ethiopia’s fast-growing capital market. This brings the total of licensed Capital Market Service Providers to 13, according to a press release […]
Structural reforms boost Morocco’s capital market in run up to World Cup
New listings highlight the success of a 10-year programme with the partners such as the World Bank, which has supported Morocco through the World Bank Group’s Joint Capital Market Program Sustainable Finance Facility (J-CAP SFF), funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Samia Mouline and Sébastien Boitreaud, writing for the World Bank […]
New bond index may cut Africa debt costs
A ground-breaking effort to improve cost of credit for African borrowers, including governments, got a boost with the recent launch of the iBoxx LSF USD African Sovereigns Index, owned and managed by S&P Dow Jones Indices. This comes in support of the Liquidity Sustainability Facility (LSF) programme, which aims to offer more transparency with daily […]
$150m conservation bond to boost rhino romances
[PHOTO CREDIT MARTIN HARVEY/WWF] Rhino romances in South Africa’s parks could provide a 9% boost to international bond holders’ returns in a first-of-its-kind conservation bond announced this week (23 March). The World Bank is raising nearly $150 million for environment and conservation activities through the issue of a 5-year Wildlife Conservation Bond issued by its […]
3 East African exchanges to link before year-end 2020
Market integration across 3 East African securities exchanges is moving fast with a target of being live and online by 31 December 2020. According to a news report, Uganda Securities Exchange, Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and Rwanda Stock Exchange are set to start trading as a single market after connecting their trading systems to […]
Ethiopia aims for stock exchange by 2020
Ethiopia has set itself a tight timetable for economic reform, including privatization of telecoms by the end of 2019 and a domestic stock exchange by 2020. A World Bank team was due to arrive in Addis Ababa in December to provide technical help to develop the capital market. Last week Financial Times repeated the timetable […]
World Bank $1.2bn to supporting financial sector in Ethiopia
The World Bank has announced that it will give a $600m grant and a $600m loan towards supporting reforms in Ethiopia’s financial sector including improving the investment climate, according to Reuters, plus technical support.
Malawi Stock Exchange to start automated trading in May
Malawi Stock Exchange is set to go live with an automated trading system (ATS) by end May and 30 April is start date for dematerialization as shareholders move physical certificates onto the Reserve Bank of Malawi electronic Central Securities Depository.
African pensions and infrastructure investment – recent research
African pension fund regulators and PPP practitioners have much to learn from Latin American examples on how to let local funds invest into infrastructure, while building the capital markets, plus round-up of some recent research papers.
Opinion: Steps for regional integration of capital markets
Can regional integration work for Africa’s capital markets and securities exchanges?
First graduate course for capital markets professionals
Capital markets practitioners across Africa benefit from a graduate-level programme launched 3 May by the IFC, Milken Institute and George Washington University.
JSE and ASEA host African exchanges for capacity-building
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), supported by the World Bank Group, are hosting the third Building African Financial Markets seminar this week, bringing together stock exchanges, regulators, stockbrokers and others from across Africa.
JSE seminar on African capital markets development
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange will host the 3rd Building African Financial Markets capacity-building seminar, in Johannesburg from 10-12 September.
Visa helps towards remittance target cost of 5%
On average Africans paying up to 12.4% ($25) to send $200 home, twice the global average. The fees cost Africans an estimated $1.8 billion a year, according to UK thinktank Overseas Development Institute.
More weather index insurance for African smallholder farmers
IFC signed 2 grant agreements with MicroEnsure Ltd for index-based weather insurance to help small-scale farmers in Rwanda and Zambia manage drought and too much rain.
IFC to issue $50m (NGN8 billion) Naija bond in Nigeria
The International Finance Corporation plans to issue a $50 million (NGN 8 billion) local-currency “Naija” bond in Nigeria to support the domestic capital markets and increase access to local-currency finance. IFC bonds are rated triple-A by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.
Improving business climate is key challenge – Africa improves
The business environment is rising higher on the agenda of African governments and more progress is being made, but there are still major issues. Doing Business 2193 report by the IFC and the World Bank and the Mo Ibrahim Index on African Governance, both published in October, highlight which economies and governments are improving fastest.
World Bank says 4.8% growth for sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, cuts earlier forecast
The World Bank has cut its growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa. Earlier in the year it forecast 5.2% growth overall for SSA economies in 2012, but yesterday (4 Oct) it cut this to 4.8%.
IFC mobilizes $1bn into private infrastructure in Africa
The International Finance Corporation (the private sector investment arm of the World Bank group) will invest and mobilize more than $1 billion into private infrastructure in Africa during 2012, up from $200 million 5 years ago.
Hana Mining could speed trans-Kalahari railway
The dual-listing of Hana Mining Ltd. last week on the Foreign Venture Capital Board of the Botswana Stock Exchange could bring a giant new cross-Africa railway closer.