First capital market workshop in Africa
Johannesburg – As a member of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), Standard Bank of South Africa earlier this month hosted the first-ever capital market workshop on the continent.
Monwabisi Zukani, Senior Legal Manager (Global Markets), at Standard Bank said the workshop, which focused on the repo market, was well attended, with representatives from a wide range of institutions including South Africa’s National Treasury, Strate and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Richard Comotto, a Senior Visiting Fellow for ICMA, who facilitated the workshop, said “We are very excited by the future potential of Africa’s capital markets. The insights shared during our sessions serve to underline how valuable ICMA’s global experience of transaction management and legislation will be in an African context.”
ICMA is a membership association promoting resilient and well-functioning international capital markets to drive inclusive global growth. ICMA members include: issuers, intermediaries, investors and capital market infrastructure providers. ICMA has over 500 members located in approximately 60 countries worldwide.
The great value of ICMA, especially for Africa, lies in the active role that it plays in educating financial intermediaries. “ICMA workshops, conducted by industry experts, enhance the framework of cross border issuing, trading and investing in debt instruments, by developing and disseminating internationally accepted standards of market practice along with industry guidelines, rules, recommendations and standard documentation,” said Zukani.
ICMA has an established African chapter, with Zukani as chairman. Selecting Standard Bank to head Africa’s chapter of ICMA is reflective of the bank’s wide African footprint and access to so many of the continent’s financial intermediaries.
“There are a number of initiatives which Standard Bank hosts each year that provide ideal platforms to introduce the work of ICMA to the industry across the continent. This will help align African documentation with the rest of the world, making transactions easier, faster and safer while deepening African capital markets” he said.
Currently Africa’s repo market, for example, is horizontal operating exclusively between banks. “By educating and equipping more financial intermediaries with the training and globally accepted documentation to manage repo transactions, we can develop a broader repo market on the continent with many more participants,” he said.
