West African Exchanges begin Integration of Sub-region’s Capital Markets

 

Members of West African Securities Exchange on Wednesday practically commenced the process of integrating capital markets of the sub-region with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed to help drive the project.

The ECOWAS Capital Market is part of the whole project of integrating the entire economies of the sub-region and adopting a single currency – the Eco.

Mounir Gwarzo, director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria, said at the MoU signing in Abuja that the members came together to form an association to help drive the purpose.

“Within the East African countries, Kenya is doing quite well in driving their association and within the Arab countries and the Middle East they also have their association and doing well.

“Part of our own principle is to see that we can achieve a lot globally in terms of financial inclusion, financial literacy, market development, crises management and enforcement. It is to make sure that the entire jurisdiction within a particular region come together and share information, information is key and what drives the market is information.

“And the only way we can do this is to ensure that the regulators come together and the committee agreed to form the West Africa Security Regulators Association (WASRA),’’ he said.

Gwarzo said some of the agreement on the MoU was to harmonise their regulatory framework, manage risk in the capital market and monitor market development, saying the association would be chaired by Mory Soumahoro, secretary general, Counseil Regional De L’Epargne Publique Et Des Marchès Financiers (CREPMF).

Speaking on the financial implications for the member states, the director-general said it would be looked into so as to know what it would cost each state, saying the chairman would head the association for two years after which the performance of the association would be accessed and another chairman possibly takes over.

In his remark, Soumahoro thanked the members for the confidence they had in electing him, and he called on all the member states to support the association to achieve its aim.

The SEC director-general, Ghana, Adu Antwi, said the he was optimistic that the association would achieve the aim set before it, saying ‘’we will make sure we push the agenda, we are on course and the association will help in achieving the aim of integrating the ECOWAS States.