Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) says it has been officially admitted into the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP) by the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) Executive Committee (EXCo) and AELP Steering Committee at a Ceremony in Douala, Cameroon today.
The AELP is a co-initiative of ASEA and the African Development Bank (AfDB) who are the sponsors of the project. The Project is designed to facilitate cross-border investment flows and investor participation through increased liquidity and securities trading activity on African stock exchanges. In addition, the AELP is also expected to improve capacity for regulatory and policy formulation and standards harmonization for cross – border securities trading and settlement. Lastly, the Project is expected to lead to innovation in services and investment products, improve knowledge sharing and make it possible to establish real business partnerships among stakeholders leading to greater financial markets integration across Africa.
The BSE admission follows the second phase of the project after the initial phase created linkages among seven African capital markets that represent about 90 percent of Africa’s market capitalization being: Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NiSE), Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM), The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM). To be admitted into the Project, the BSE says it followed a rigorous application process for admission where the Exchange had to demonstrate, and successfully so, its legal authority and ability subject to its local laws and regulations to meet the required provisions.
Commenting on this milestone, the BSE CEO, Thapelo Tsheole said, “The AELP is a transformational initiative that is set to revolutionize and harmonize the trading of securities amongst participating exchanges in the Sub-Saharan Region Hence, as the BSE, we took the immediate decision to join the original seven (7) participating Exchanges to stimulate easier cross-border trading in our market and similarly, also provide a gateway to other regional markets for our local investors. As a key strategic initiative by ASEA, I am confident that will have a positive effect on liquidity levels across African markets and lastly, this will serve as a value proposition to attract investment inflows into Africa. Therefore, I would like to thank the ASEA EXCo for admitting the BSE into this wonderful Project.”
