Nigeria, 13 others create trading platform for stocks, bonds in Africa

Nigeria and 13 other countries in Africa have created a cross-border and unified securities trading platform for investors and brokers seeking investable assets across the continent.

The one-stop trading platform called African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP), offers company stocks, corporate and government bonds, as well as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and derivatives.

Aside from Nigeria, other nations behind the idea are – Senegal, Egypt, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, South Africa, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco and Mali.

The African securities regulators plan to boost liquidity in the continent’s market through AELP.

Equities, bonds and other securities listed on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM), and Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) will be found on the Linkage Project, according to multiple media reports on Thursday.

Read also :NAHCO, UACN among top stocks as Nigeria’s capital market rebounds with N127.5bn gain for shareholders

Others on the list are Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), and Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), which serves Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Benin, Niger, Senegal and, Burkina Faso.

However, while other exchanges are still in the integration phase, NGX, BRVM, CSE and EGX have been successfully linked to the cross-border securities trading platform.

The AELP, which is under the umbrella of African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) and African Development Bank (AfDB), was created following the rise in cross-border trading in the last three years.

The President of African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), Edoh Amenounve, who spoke on the development, said: “Brokers and investors will be able to access a variety of asset classes available in their markets of interest.”

“The AELP aims to automate the trading process and enable brokers to access information and see the market depth and liquidity of the participating markets.

“The linkage will happen through two main processes where Exchanges will be connected to the live market data Link, enabling traders to see live order books across the markets, thereafter brokers will be interfaced with the system for order placement and execution.”

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