The Nigerian Exchange Group and the Nairobi Securities Exchange have taken steps to strengthen ties between their markets. A meeting was held in Nairobi, bringing together stakeholders from Nigeria and Kenya to explore opportunities for collaboration. This move aims to create stronger connections between African capital markets. The engagement was attended by key figures, including Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited.
Aliko Dangote praised the Group Chairman of NGX Group, Umaru Kwairanga, and Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Temi Popoola, for their role in advancing collaboration among African capital-market institutions. Dangote believes that stronger collaboration among African exchanges can create opportunities for companies to access capital across multiple African markets. He cited the planned Dangote refinery in Lamu as an example of the opportunities that could emerge from stronger integration.
The Nairobi engagement builds on a strategic meeting convened by NGX Group in Lagos in April. This meeting brought together leaders of major African exchanges to discuss cross-border market connectivity and opportunities to strengthen collaboration among African capital markets. The goal is to facilitate greater cross-border access to capital-market opportunities. This initiative aligns with wider continental efforts, including the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP).
Temi Popoola emphasized that the significance of the engagement extends beyond any single transaction. The objective was continental: to bring African exchanges together and explore how to create stronger connections between African capital markets. Popoola sees this engagement with the Nairobi Securities Exchange as a model that can be strengthened and potentially replicated across other markets on the continent.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Frank Mwiti, commended NGX Group for its role in facilitating the engagement. He noted that stronger collaboration among African exchanges could deepen relationships between markets, promote the sharing of expertise, and create greater opportunities for investors and issuers across the continent. This collaboration can also promote cross-border trading and investment among African exchanges.
The planned groundbreaking of Dangote’s proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu reflects the scale of cross-border business and investment opportunities emerging across the continent. Popoola stated that the ambition was to build on the Kenya engagement and develop a model for broader cooperation across the continent. This work with Kenya is seen as a prototype for how African markets can support greater connectivity among themselves.
The collaboration between NGX and Nairobi Securities Exchange is a step towards facilitating cross-border access to capital-market opportunities, with the potential to scale across West Africa and the wider continent. This engagement has the potential to create a more integrated African capital market, providing companies with more opportunities to access capital and investors with more options to invest in various markets.
Key points
- The Nigerian Exchange Group and Nairobi Securities Exchange are working together to strengthen ties between their markets.
- The collaboration aims to create stronger connections between African capital markets and facilitate cross-border access to capital-market opportunities.
- The engagement has the potential to create a more integrated African capital market, providing companies with more opportunities to access capital and investors with more options to invest in various markets.
