Written by Evan Pickworth | From BDlive

The development of African stock exchanges to accommodate the growing demand for capital received a boost on Tuesday with the appointment of South Africa’s software company Securities and Trading Technology (STT) to provide the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange with integrated trading, clearing and settlement technology.

With liquidity a problem on most African exchanges, the development of new exchanges across Africa is beginning to take off, and South Africa’s expertise is increasingly being called on to facilitate the growth.

A total of 25 companies have so far raised capital and listed their securities on the Tanzanian exchange — 12 companies through issuance of shares and 13 through corporate bonds.

Several government bonds are already listed on the exchange and the aim is to deepen the market significantly.

Former JSE director Allan Thomson, who is involved in setting up the Bond and Derivatives Exchange of Zambia, the Nairobi Securities Exchange’s derivatives exchange for the East African region and a third exchange, which cannot be named yet, on Tuesday called the Tanzania development “a very good move”.

While not directly involved with the Tanzania exchange, Mr Thomson is working with STT in a consortium to rival South Africa’s authorized central securities depository, Strate.

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