Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), yesterday announced that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Temi Popoola, has been elected into the Executive Committee of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA).
ASEA, the continent’s prime association of securities exchanges was established in 1993, with the mandate to develop members’ markets, promote the capital market business, and provide a platform for networking.
At the Association’s Annual General Meeting and Conference in Abidjan, Cote D’ Ivoire on Wednesday, Popoola was elected into the executive committee, according to an NGX statement.
The election also saw the CEOs of the Botswana Stock Exchange, Thapelo Tsheole, and the Rwanda Stock Exchange, Pierre Celestine Rwabukumba, also elected as President and Vice President of ASEA respectively.
Popoola appreciated the representatives of the member exchanges for their confidence in selecting the committee members and thanked the immediate past president, Dr Edoh Kossi Amenounve, for his service to the association.
“I also appreciate the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Mr Oscar N. Onyema OON, for his support during my election to the committee and his efforts on ASEA’s initiatives during his time as leader of the association.
“As the President of ASEA between 2014 and 2018, he championed the initiation and development of the African Exchanges Linkage project, which is now being officially launched and will aid the pooling of liquidity across exchanges on the continent.”
Popoola added, “ASEA as the premier association of securities exchanges in Africa is tasked with the duties of promoting the capital markets of its members at the global level and fostering capital inflows into Africa capital markets. At NGX, we will continue to collaborate with other ASEA members on the development of our markets, intelligence and data sharing, and join in advocacy efforts.
“I am confident that the committee will continue to advance the pan-African agenda, enhance sustainability and capital mobilisation efforts and drive continent-wide financial inclusion for the development of our continent.”
At NGX, we will continue to collaborate with other ASEA members on the development of our markets, intelligence and data sharing, and join in advocacy efforts.
AELP launch
It was also the official launch of the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP), an innovation by ASEA done in partnership with African Development Bank (AfDB), aimed at facilitating cross-border trading among seven participating Exchanges and select broker firms.
According to the Association, AELP will aggregate live market data from seven stock exchanges representing 2,000 companies with about $1.5 trillion in market capitalisation. It will enable brokers to access information; see market depth and liquidity of the foreign market of interest.
AELP’s phased rollout will be funded by a grant from the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Fund (KOAFEC), according to a statement from ASEA.
ASEA’s outgoing President, Edoh Kossi Amenounve, was quoted as saying that, “With AELP, we are entering a new era of African capital markets where all our members will gradually transact cross-border trades from one African securities exchange to another. This project represents a great opportunity for investors and issuers across the continent.”
NGX was announced as one of the participating Exchanges with FBN Quest Securities Limited, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, CardinalStone Securities Limited, Chapel Hill Denham, Cordros Securities Limited, and RMB Stockbrokers participating as securities dealers from Nigeria.
