By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) has reported a $1.3 trillion market capitalisation Year-to-Date (Y-t-D), Oscar Onyema, president of ASEA disclosed on Monday in his opening address at the Association’s 19th annual conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Onyema affirmed that in 2015 year to date; African exchanges collectively have traded over $325.0 billion in equities, $1.2 trillion in bonds, and $438.0 billion in ETFs & Others, which represented the market capitalisation of over $1.3 trillion.
“In terms of governance and ownership structure, several of our exchanges are demutualised, while others are in the process of demutualising. Today, our exchanges are becoming active players in the global exchange business, and the conference theme “Evermore” is about sustaining that growth position, and becoming a real platform for growth in the African economy,” Onyema said.
The ASEA president affirmed the role of the capital market remains a critical one and believes that it is time to ask the tough question of how the continent can sustain the positive growth trajectories of its performances as African exchanges, given the globalisation of the securities business. “It is my strong belief that one of the things that Africa needs to sustain its growth, is a solid capital markets ecosystem that will attract investment and unlock the potential that exists on the continent,” he added.
“Furthermore, among the 23 nations that make up ASEA, we have a combined total of just-over 1,600 listed companies, this number is negligible compared to the actual number of successful companies operating on the continent, or the over 1.5 million businesses registered in Africa. I propose we find new ways to engage with business leaders in order to communicate more clearly the vital role we play in facilitating long-term financing, mobilizing resources, and directing the flow of savings and investments efficiently within our economies,” Onyema said.
According to him, the sub-regional integration efforts such as WACMI in West Africa, CoSSE in Southern Africa, and EAC in East Africa must be encouraged. “We must also begin to study how to effectively link the entire region. Hence, the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP) which is a jointly owned mandate between ASEA and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), is a step in the right direction,” he affirmed.
He said the AELP is aimed at addressing the lack of liquidity in African capital markets by creating linkages across key regional markets to reduce fragmentation and information asymmetry.
The ASEA president said the conference, themed “Africa Evermore”, is an opportune time for the continent to engage with one another in open and constructive dialogue about its current operating environment, and how to go about closing the gaps in its journey to attain the full promise of Africa’s economic potential.
“Compared to this year’s performance, growth in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to pick up in 2016 by 0.5 percentage points to 4.3 percent according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook,” he added.
