'Africa Needs Common Stock Exchange Platform'

The former Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, has urged African countries to establish a common stock exchange platform that will enable their citizens to buy shares of companies listed in any part of the continent.

She said the platform would also give shareholders the opportunity to trade their shares across borders, while potential investors would also take advantage of the situation to invest in listed companies they find attractive.

According to her, companies that list on a stock exchange have limitless access to a pool of funds from various shareholders and its also enhances good cooperate governance while ensuring firm control of the finances of the company.

Speaking in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS after a courtesy call on the Head of Mission, African Union Diaspora African Forum in Accra, she said companies that list on the stock exchange create more wealth for themselves.

Presently there are 29 exchanges in Africa, representing 38 nations' capital markets.

Africa has two regional stock exchanges: the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières, or BRVM, located in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire; and the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières d'Afrique Centrale, or BVMAC, located in Libreville, Gabon. The BRVM serves the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo; the BVMAC serves the Central African Republic, Tchad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

21 of the 29 stock exchanges in Africa are members of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA).

One of the oldest bourses (exchanges) on the continent is the Casablanca Stock Exchange of Morocco, founded in 1929. The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) was founded in 1883 and the JSE, Ltd. in 1887. The Casablanca Stock Exchange is one of Africa's ten largest exchanges along with Johannesburg Stock Exchange, EGX, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Giving her impression about the performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Professor Okereke-Onyiuke said the GSE had performed creditably and still had a bright future.

Meanwhile, the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) is aiming for systematic mutual cooperation, exchange of information, materials and persons together with joint programs between its African members.