AU plans Pan-African Stock Exchange

In the works since 2003, Africa is yet to see the Pan-African Stock Exchange dream become a reality.

Ten years ago, Africa’s biggest and modernized stock market, the Johannesburg bourse, announced plans to create a Pan-African exchange, according to a BBC report August 19, 2003.

The African bourse would have initially allowed investors to trade in shares in firms from Ghana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

In 2011, Head of the Johannesburg bourse at that time, Nicky Newton-King indicated that a Pan-African stock exchange is most unlikely to be established due to the passion for owning a national exchange on the background that the JSE is said to be controlling about 65% of total market capitalization of Africa’s stock exchanges.

But the African Union (AU) together with its partners such as the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)  and the African Development Bank have moved in to take up the subject of establishing the bourse.

According to the AU’s Commissioner for Economic Affiars, Dr. Maxwell Mkwezalamba, the Union is “looking at establishing a Pan-African Stock Exchange.”

This is to help mobilize funds for the private sector to finance Africa’s infrastructural development, Mr Mkwezalamba told the press March 22, 2013 at the ongoing 2013 Joint AU-ECA Meetings in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

“We are yet to get into the details but the study that has been undertaken will focus more on regional stock exchanges, hoping that eventually we will have one Pan-African Stock Exchange,” Dr Mkwezalamba added.

He however admitted that the move will take sometime.

By Ekow Quandzie