- Title: IVORY COAST: West Africa bourse targets 15 pct gains in 2010
- Date: 11th January 2010
- Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ABIDJAN'S WEST AFRICA BR STOCK EXCHANGE SIGN ON FRONT OF THE BOURSE BUILDING READING ''BOURSE REGIONAL'' (REGIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE) BR STOCK EXCHANGE GATE, PEOPLE WALKING PAST VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET VERSUS BANK EXTERIOR CAR PASSING WITH VERSUS BANK SEEN IN BACKGROUND MORE OF TRAFFIC ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (French) JEAN PAUL GILLET, BR MANAGING DIRECTOR, SAYING: "We can have hope if the elections go well, if Ivory Coast stabilises with a government that functions normally - as a government should function - with all the institutions supporting it. So, this would imply offering transparency for investors so that they can come and massively invest in Ivory Coast, a country which still has the biggest development potential in the region." VARIOUS OF BANNER WITH NAMES OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES INTERIOR OF STOCK EXCHANGE, TRADERS LOOKING AT SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (French) JEAN PAUL GILLET, BR MANAGING DIRECTOR, SAYING: "We're seeing price stabilisation and for 2010 our focus is on the future. We hope to catch up with the European or Western stock exchanges. We hope that prices will pick up again on the stock exchange." VARIOUS OF STREET WITH TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIANS
- Embargoed: 26th January 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Finance
- Reuters ID: LVADXUKY1IIDGTX6I2ZUJID0VKXP
- Story Text: West Africa's regional stock exchange (BR) should gain 15 percent in value in 2010 from its current 2.4 trillion CFA francs ($5.3 billion U.S. dollars), reversing two years of losses, its chief told Reuters.
BR Managing Director Jean-Paul Gillet also said the Bank of Africa's Ivory Coast branch would launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the bourse in the coming weeks.
It will initially list 120,000 shares valued at 20,000 CFA (43 US) per share, according to a memo from the bank. Subscriptions close on March 5th.
The years 2009 and 2008 saw losses of 14 percent and 10 percent respectively, largely owing to the impact of the global financial crisis.
Another factor holding back investment was political uncertainty over Ivory Coast, which has repeatedly delayed elections needed to reunite a country divided by a 2002-3 war. Foreign funds were particularly wary, Gillet said.
"We can have hope if the elections go well, if Ivory Coast stabilises with a government that functions normally - as a government should function - with all the institutions supporting it. So, this would imply offering transparency for investors so that they can come and massively invest in Ivory Coast, a country which still has the biggest development potential in the region."
But West Africa was benefiting from a sustained recovery in the price of raw materials, its main exports, he said.
Transaction volumes fell to 110 billion CFA francs (241 million USD) last year, compared with 150 billion francs (328 million USD) in 2008.
"We're seeing price stabilisation and for 2010 our focus is on the future. We hope to catch up with the European or Western stock exchanges. We hope that prices will pick up again on the stock exchange."
BR, which was founded in 1998 and functions on an electronic system, allows brokerage firms to send orders from the various eight countries in the region to the central site in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan.
It lists 37 companies including its largest, Senegalese telecoms company Sonatel, Burkina Faso's main telecoms operator, Onatel and Unilever's Ivory Coast branch.
Gillet said he expected more initial public offerings would follow the BOA offer. Other companies had expressed interest in listing this year, he said, mostly telecoms firms and banks.
Bourse projects in the pipeline for 2010 include plans to make government bonds and bills easier to subscribe to for individual investors. The bourse was also appealing to the regulator to reduce the minimum capitalisation required to list, to allow small and medium-sized businesses to list. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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