London Stock Exchange Group on Monday held the inaugural session of its new Africa Advisory Group, which brings together African business leaders and senior representatives from pan-African economic bodies to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the development of Africa’s capital market infrastructure. Xavier Rolet, CEO of London Stock Exchange Group was joined by distinguished business leaders, policymakers and investors from across Africa. The Group will lead a number of initiatives to support capital markets development in Africa.
The Advisory Group members include:
Corporates:
• Naguib Sawiris, CEO, Orascom – Major Egyptian conglomerate
• ABC Orjiako , Chairman, Seplat – Nigerian oil major
• Kola Karim , CEO, Shoreline Group – Nigerian energy & infrastructure company
• Brahim Benjelloun, General Manager, BMCE Morocco – One of Morocco’s largest banks
• Ashish Thakkar , Founder & Chairman, Mara Group – Pan-African business services company
Governmental & International organisations:
• Chinelo Anohu-Amazu , Director General, Nigeria Pension Commission
• Fatima Hara Acyl , Commissioner, African Union
• Richard Sezibera, Secretary General, East Africa Community – Regional intergovernmental organization
• Oscar Onyema , President, African Securities Exchanges Association
Investors:
• Ian Greenstreet , Founder & Chairman, Infinity Capital Partners – Global corporate finance firm with significant investments across Africa
• Sev Vettivetpillai, Partner, Abraaj Group, Global corporate finance firm with significant investments across Africa
• Mutuma Marangu, Private Investor
The Group’s members will meet over a two year period to develop a new leadership study which will
deliver empirically grounded, actionable and Africa-specific policy recommendations.
Xavier Rolet, CEO, LSEG said:
“Africa represents the single largest growth opportunity in the world. To realise its staggering potential, African economies will need a sustainable and transparent funding mechanism to deliver growth finance to the thousands of ambitious, entrepreneur-led companies taking root across the continent. Only by harnessing an efficient capital markets infrastructure can this happen in a rapid yet controlled manner.
We believe that the leading thinkers gathered in our new Advisory Group will be at the forefront of this
evolution – a project and a process that London Stock Exchange Group is fully committed to supporting.
James Duddridge MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
“The British Government is committed to assisting in the development of African capital markets. They have a vital role to play in funding new and growing businesses and the infrastructure development we all hope to see in Africa. This is an important initiative by the London Stock Exchange and we are delighted
to offer our support. We look forward to working with the Africa Advisory Group and to working with the London Stock Exchange to implement its recommendations.”
LSEG’s MillenniumIT capital markets technology is used by 12
African securities exchanges including Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Africa’s largest; Bank of Ghana,
Botswana Stock Exchange, Bourse de Casablanca, Egyptian Stock Exchange, Lusaka Stock Exchange,
Mozambique Stock Exchange, Nairobi Stock Exchange, Namibia Stock Exchange, Nigerian Stock Exchange and Uganda Securities Exchange.
There are 113 African companies listed or trading on LSE – more than on any other international stock exchange. These companies have a total market capitalization of over US$200 billion, and in the last 10 years have raised more than $26 billion on our markets.
The post above and its ensuing comments, if any, is purely the opinion of the writer(s). It therefore should never be considered as an investment advise of any sort. If required, readers should please consult a competent professional financial adviser for any investment decision.