East African stock markets to become one by 2008

[Jonny]

E. Africa for one bourse
YASIIN MUGERWA
Monitor - KAMPALA

East African stock markets are finalising plans to create a common
bourse, the East African Stock Exchange by the year 2008.
This will give chance to residents of the three East African nations to
buy into any of the companies listed on either Nairobi Stock Exchange
(NSE), Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and Dar-es-salaam Stock
Exchange.

According to Mr Jimnah Mbaru, the NSE chief, the three players are
engaged in negotiations on how the three can be merged. "When this is
done, we shall have a single stock exchange for Kenya and Uganda, "
he said.

Speaking at the inauguration of the NSE automated trading systems by
President Kibaki on October 30, Mbaru said that as part of the
harmonisation plan, the three bourses will set up a single Central
Depository System Corporation serving Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and
Rwanda owned by the three stock exchanges. He said the new East African
Stock Exchange would greatly harmonise business in the region and would
encourage listing of more companies, giving east Africans the chance to
buy into big names.

The three players asked governments to expedite the East African
Federation that would support the merger. They have also asked heads of
key infrastructure based parastatals to consider issuing corporate
bonds to raise capital for infrastructure development in the region.
Mbaru also outlined plans to develop a commodities exchange modeled
along the Chicago Commodities Exchange where products such as tea,
coffee, flowers, cotton, maize, cotton and others would be traded.
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[Mkakati]

Not a bad idea but is it really posible to have this by 2008?
We don't even have the same currency yet, so how are people going to
trade in this EA market?

[ajm...@gmail.com]

I dont think if the objective is to share the same currency but just
inter-trade on common stocks. Currency is not an issue to furnish this
operation but deployment of the system and administration. Taking an
example of the big players eg. TSE and NYX merger who are both coming
from different currencies, they are applying a common denominator which
is the EURO. For our case I think US$$ has been the common denominator
of our trade. I guess its a good idea as it will establish a
competitive stage for traders which as a result into a better trading
circulation hence.

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