Under the High Patronage of His Excellency Dr. Thomas Boni YAYI, President of the Republic of Benin, the third edition of the “BRVM Investment Days” (http://www.brvminvestmentdays.org) took place on September 23rd 2015 in New York at Bloomberg L.P., the headquarters of the world leader of broadcasting of financial information.
This edition was highlighted by the presence of high-ranking personalities of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) in particular the Prime Minister of Benin, Mr. Lionel ZINSOU; the Minister of State/ Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Charles Koffi DIBY, representing the Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire; the Representative of Mr. Christian ADOVELANDE, President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD); the President of the Boards of Directors of the BRVM and the DC/BR, Mr. Pierre Atépa GOUDIABY and the CEO of both central structures of the Regional Financial Market of the WAEMU, Mr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE.
The President of Bloomberg, Mr. Peter GRAUER honored the WAEMU and the BRVM with his presence at the opening ceremony of the Conference.
More than a hundred participants, among whom several actors of the Regional Financial Market of the WAEMU, the “Agence UMOA-Titres”, companies listed on the BRVM, Investment Banks and International brokers based in New York, took part in the Meeting.
The Prime Minister of Benin, Mr. Lionel ZINSOU, a renowned African economist, the Minister of State/ Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Charles Koffi DIBY and representative of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), presented a forward-looking vision of Africa emphasizing the economic performances of the Union and perspectives for its future growth, as well as the potential for investments in the public and private sector to encourage the interest of American investors.
The Managers of the BRVM and the DC / BR took this opportunity to present the implementation status of their new growth strategy and the results obtained during the last three years (doubling of the capitalization of the market and the daily value of the transactions, new Initial Public Offerings operations etc.), as well as the goals of the stock market looking ahead to 2020, in particular the integration of the stock exchanges of the ECOWAS region (BRVM, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cape Verde).
The current operational structure, as well as expected innovations in the sovereign-debt market of the WAEMU, were also presented and explain by “Agence UMOA-Titres” and the national treasury departments of current member states present at the event. The performances of listed companies were presented and topics of common interest such as notation, the future of the CFA franc, the effects of political crises in Africa, were discussed.
Investors who attended and the persons in charge of Bloomberg L.P. showed significant interest for Africa and for the WAEMU in particular, because of the potential growth of this economic zone. They wished to have more regular information on both states and private sector, and in particular listed companies. BRVM will have to rely on Bloomberg to inform investors in this area in the future.
This “Operation de Seduction” of investors and the African Diaspora in the United States, thus, has kept its promise. The next rendezvous will be in February 2016 in Dubai and Abu-Dhabi. The 4th edition of “BRVM Investment Days” will target investors from the Middle-East.
About the BRVM
5th among the most promising African stock exchanges in the HAVAS classification (March 2015), the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM) (http://www.brvm.org) is responsible for the organization of the stock market and for the broadcasting of market information within the WAEMU. It includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. The headquarters of the BRVM is located in Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire. Mr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE is the CEO of the BRVM.
The BRVM which started its activities in September, 1998 had a capitalization of its equity market of 7,318.81 billion XOF as of September 23rd 2015.
Communications and
Public Relations Office
BRVM — DC/BR
Did you find this information helpful? If you did, consider donating.