20091208
Major stock exchanges in West Africa, all of them members of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), have taken a major move geared towards fully integrating all the stock exchanges in the sub region. The Stock Exchanges of Nigeria and Ghana, alongside Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), signed a MOU to go ahead with the deal.
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Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), who is also the new president of ASEA, said the move signifies the commitment of the sub-region to integrate their markets and trading systems, the Punch Newspaper in Nigeria reported.

Okereke-Onyiuke, who signed on behalf of Nigeria, said the NSE had been collaborating with the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) on the integration process over the years, while there had been challenges from the BRVM due to language problems.

A private corporation, and the only regional stock exchange on the continent of Africa, BRVM serves the francophone West African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. It is headquartered in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, with market offices in each member country.

The MOU was signed by the major Stock Exchanges in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, during the 13th Annual Conference of the African Securities Exchanges Association, a 20 member stock exchanges group with notable capital market operators. Also signing on behalf of their respective Stock Exchanges were the Managing Director of GSE, Kofi Yamoah, and the Director General of BRVM, Jean Paul Gillet.

Expressing delight over the development, the representatives pledged their commitment towards ensuring a successful integration of the West African sub region into a common stock exchange. The modalities and time frame for realisation of the project, according to the outcome of the meeting, will be worked out at the first meeting of the technical committee, set for January, 2010.

The members believe that this MOU opens the way for stock exchanges in the sub region to establish a regional platform for trading in stocks, despite the obstacles posed by the differences in currencies, languages and regulations in the individual member countries.

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