Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Akinwumi Adesina, has said the lender will work closely with the Africa Advisory Group of the London Stock Exchange Group (LAAG) to attract a bigger share of the $5 trillion global Exchange Traded Fund Assets under management into African capital markets.
Speaking when he opened markets for trading at LSE on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, Mr Adesina said the synthetic synchronization of £1 billion issued by the bank had attracted global institutional investors to look at infrastructure in Africa.
“We are excited about the recent listing of Kenya’s Acorn Holdings, the country’s first green bond in January 2020,” he added, then also touched on the Africa Investment Forum.
“My ringing of the bell here today marks the beginning of a new exciting, strategic, and impactful engagement between the African Development Bank and London Stock Exchange to jointly expand wealth creation in Africa and the UK,” Mr Adesina said.
The bank on Tuesday became a formal member of LAAG, an advocacy group which serves as a platform to enhance the development of African capital markets, boost trade and investment flows between the UK and Africa.
While welcoming his guest, Chairman of LSEG, Mr Don Robert, stated that, “Deep and sustainable capital markets are key to supporting African companies and infrastructure.
“We look forward to continuing to play our part in the development of these markets and attracting investment to Africa. As such, we’re delighted to continue our collaboration with the African Development Bank, which has now formally become a member of LSEG’s Africa Advisory Group.”
The reception in London followed the AfDB’s Africa Investment Forum, held in November last year. The innovative market-place for accelerating investment into the continent is playing a valuable role in convening investors and corporates and removing the bottlenecks to investments and enabling a free flow of long-term capital.
The 2019 edition of the Forum, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, saw investor interest secured in deals valued at $40.1 billion. Mozambique featured strongly in the 2019 edition, with state oil and fuel company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), tabling the largest deal worth $24.6 billion.
About 112 African companies are listed on London Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of £125 billion. In 2019, two African telecommunications companies raised £800 million in capital through IPOs in London.
