African Leaders Urged to Implement Integration ProcessThe African Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA) has urged African leaders to demonstrate their political commitment to the economic integration efforts by implementing integration decisions faithfully, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Monday.According to a communique issued at the end of the ASEA's annual conference in Nigerian capital Abuja at the weekend, the ASEA said African stock exchanges must join the struggle to empower indigenous companies as a basis for the sustainable development of the continent. "African governments should provide practicable support systems to leverage indigenous businesses through the frameworks of the stock exchange and the small and medium industries administration as proposed by the Nigerian government," said the communique. Sustained efforts should be made to create markets including stock exchanges, merchant banks, insurance companies and stock- broking firms, it added. The just-ended conference also stressed the need to change the negative foreign investor perception of African markets and further noted that stock exchanges in Africa were yet to become dynamic institutions of financial inter-mediation because they were still constrained by outdated practices, difficult trading mechanisms and products marketing strategy that inhibited delivery. Fortunately, the conference has adopted the common listing requirement for equities within the ASEA's 18 stock exchanges currently operating on the continent, a landmark decision by the ASEA towards the integration of African stock markets in Africa. |
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