Top Africa multi-nation bourse plans ETFs, futures for growth

The bigger of Africa’s two multi-country bourses is expanding its product offering as it seeks to deepen its capital markets, broaden its investor base and boost trading volumes.

The Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières, the exchange for the eight member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union that shares a common currency pegged to the euro, plans to introduce futures and exchange-traded funds, Chief Executive Officer Edoh Kossi Amenounve said in an interview in Luanda, Angola.

The 28-year-old Abidjan-based exchange’s benchmark index has soared 44% in dollar terms this year, making it the best performer globally after Bulgaria and Nigeria’s, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

It has 48 listed companies as well as government and corporate bonds, supported by a centralised depository and settlement bank.

“This year, we have already had 60% growth in the traded volume and 85% increase in the value traded on the BRVM,” Amenounve said. “It is a very good year.”

Coris Bank International SA is the bourse’s best performer this year, having almost tripled in dollar terms. Pan-African lender Ecobank Transnational has more than doubled.

Above-average economic growth in its constituent markets — which include Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo — has helped to drive the gains.

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The economic bloc has combined gross domestic product of $254 billion and a population exceeding 150 million in an area with significant agricultural and energy resources.

The region is expected to grow by 5.6% this year, faster than the continental average of 4.5%, according to International Monetary Fund projections.

The returns have allowed the exchange to grow into Africa’s sixth-largest by market value. Almost one in four investors comes from outside West Africa, including institutions and asset managers based in London, Paris, New York, Dubai and Johannesburg, BRVM said.

BRVM is also planning a regional commodities exchange to capitalise on the area’s growing focus on agriculture.

Countries in Waemu are seeking to accelerate economic transformation in the region, strengthen food security and expand value-added agricultural industries.

While Ivory Coast has an agricultural commodities exchange, “we are thinking regionally that we should have a commodity market,” Amenounve said.

Agriculture accounts for about a quarter of regional GDP and is a major source of jobs and export earnings, with crops including cocoa in Ivory Coast — the world’s biggest producer of the chocolate ingredient — and cotton in Burkina Faso, Mali and Benin.

The new products are targeted primarily at younger investors who are looking for different ways to grow their money.

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The median age in the Waemu region is under 20, making it one of the youngest areas globally.

The exchange has encouraged its companies to undertake stock splits to reduce investment costs, and has also allowed buyers to purchase as little as one share, Amenounve said.

“Young people are coming,” he said. “They want to reap from the dividend and growing value on the market.”

Private equity firms are also seeking exits on exchanges and family-owned businesses are starting to look for equity investment as billionaire Aliko Dangote undertakes the initial public offering of his mega-refinery, which has attracted applications from millions of people across Africa.

Amenounve remains optimistic that the bourse will attract listings as countries in the region continue their privatisation efforts.

“We have recorded 12 IPOs during the last 10 years,” he said. “That will continue in the next years on the BRVM, where we expect to have one to two IPOs every year,” he said.

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