West Africa’s linked economies offer stability for stock market investors

The Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), which links eight West African countries with a stable currency and fast growth and is one of the world’s most successful regional stock exchanges, embarks on the second leg of its international roadshow, with a one-day forum in London.

The BRVM, headquartered in investment destination Côte d’Ivoire, will meet with UK fund managers and market experts to outline investment opportunities at its “BRVM Investment Days 2018” being held at Thompson Reuters Auditorium in Canary Wharf, London on Wednesday 2 May.

Following on from its highly successful first stop in Johannesburg, where it drew over 100 potential investors, the BRVM Investment Days forum will deliver insights into regional economies with a forecast combined growth of 6.5% or 6.6% a year until 2021 (IMF).

“A lack of information on listed companies is a common complaint among frontier-market investors and constrains the allocation of funds to exchanges like BRVM,” says BRVM CEO, Dr. Edoh Kossi Amenounve. “Our roadshow is a way for listed companies to communicate directly on their good results and for investors to discover the attractive opportunities because the projections for the future are very good.”

Dr. Amenounve, along with the CEOs of listed companies and securities, including Sonatel, BOA, BOAD, ETI, SGIs and SGOs, will expand on the current trends and investment prospects in the WAEMU market. Also speaking at the forum are Razia Khan, Regional Head of Economics, Africa at Standard Chartered Bank, and Candice Dott, Head of Africa Financial and Risk Market Development at Thompson Reuters, amongst others.

They will outline strategic developments on the exchange, including investor-friendly trading and disclosure, working with London and Casablanca stock exchanges to boost growth companies in the region, and a board for mining companies after big discoveries in the region. Delegates can arrange one-to-one meetings with listed companies.

WAEMU combines eight West African countries with a population of 110 million: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. WAEMU shares a single currency, the CFA franc, which is linked to the value of the euro (EUR), and a single central bank and capital markets regulator.

Dr. Amenounve says: “The West African region offers fast, diversified growth and interesting lessons on regional development and economic linkages. In our countries, demographics, development, technology and increasing productivity all offer opportunities while the regulated exchange market offers liquidity and support to investors.”

Speaking to journalists after the Johannesburg forum held in March, Dr. Amenounve said he was expecting new listings this year. “There is one in the main board in the banking sector and two SMEs in the distribution and IT sector. We identified 10 SMEs in the region that can come to the market during the next two to three years. The medium-sized companies have turnovers of more than $10 million,” he added.

The BRVM has 45 listed companies and is Africa’s sixth biggest exchange in terms of market capitalisation with $12.5 billion in shares listed at end December 2017, plus 32 government and corporate bonds and five sukuk. To register online, please visit www.brvminvestmentdays.org.