The second edition of the “Africa Capital Markets Forum” opened on Thursday, March 16, 2023 in Abidjan on the theme “Major facts and prospective analysis of trends that impact Capital markets in the world and in Africa”. At this high-level meeting which brings together financial market professionals, Dr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE, Managing Director of the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM), presented his vision on the situation of the African economy and the world.
“The good or the bad always flowing from human action, let us seek to perfect the human in order to perfect humanity”. It is with this thought that Dr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE delivered his message to the inaugural conference of “AFRICA CAPITAL MARKETS FORUM” which is being held on March 16 and 17 in Abidjan. The CEO of the BRVM and former president of the ASEA indicated that the situation of the world economy for the past 15 years has been marked by a series of crises. These are the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, the Eurozone crisis, the COVID-19 crisis and the difficult economic situation of 2022 linked to the war in Ukraine, inflation and the energy crisis and more recently the bankruptcy of the SVB.
According to the head of the regional UEMOA stock exchange, “in light of the impacts of all these crises, we can therefore say that the world economy has suffered a certain number of major shocks which could have plunged it for a long time into a recession”. “Fortunately, strong measures have been taken to reduce the negative effects of the various crises and the regulatory, monetary and budgetary reforms that followed have contributed to developing a certain resilience in the financial system and avoiding a lasting economic depression.
It is clear that crises are an integral part of the cycles with which economies are confronted and we must prepare for them. They are, moreover, rich in lessons allowing us to improve our economic choices and our development choices. Faced with these structural changes in the world economy, finance in general, and the financial markets in particular, and taking into account the challenges of global warming, the increase in natural disasters, the amplification of social and food crises, we we must change paradigms on our continent and work more to strengthen our economies through accelerated development of the private sector, massive investments in agricultural, industrial and energy production, improvement of economic and social governance, etc. The future of stock exchanges is not threatened provided that they know how to adapt to these developments and take advantage of the opportunities of sustainability,” said Dr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE.
Solution approaches
In his speech, the CEO of the BRVM gave some approaches to solutions for sustainable and inclusive development in Africa. “In general, we must all put people back at the heart of development by reducing social inequalities, promoting economic and financial democracy and finally by better sharing the wealth created in our economies”, advised the former president. of ASEA. For him, “it is now more than obvious for all players that the digitization of stock exchange products and services and the integration of disruptive technologies into their activities constitute one of the most widespread trends for stock exchanges, and in particular that of the African continent (…). All infrastructures and market players who want to take advantage of the potential of technologies must now adopt a digital vision with a strategy for identifying and exploiting data; and data, we generate a lot of it. The success of artificial intelligence (AI), APIs, blockchain/DLT, and other technologies relies on clear goals and a willingness to transform the culture and structure of the organization to support new modes of operation.
The Future of Scholarships in Africa
“African stock markets have been in step with the rapid development of new technologies… Faced with these structural transformations of finance in general, and financial markets in particular, and taking into account the challenges of global warming, the increase in natural disasters , amplifying social and food crises, it seems imperative to put people back at the heart of finance and its digital transformation. Human intelligence is the engine of artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, big data, blockchain and analytics. People remain the engine of innovation and the sustainable success of our company.
In the recommendations to boost the development of African economies, the CEO of the BRVM proposed “that we need to manage the human dimension differently in our organizations and change perspective by re-examining the place given to men and women, young people and to seniors in managing results in the company. The extraordinary wealth constituted by the men and women who make up each company must be valued and used differently. The good news is that the capital markets and more particularly the African stock exchanges are aware of this and are watching over it for a good transition to this new environment by promoting the use of green products, solidarity products, products that promote equality between women and men, products that contain the promise of a better world and provide the means to demonstrate its positive impact. (…) The financing of a socially just ecological transition is therefore a major challenge for the future of our societies and the BRVM is committed to this new path”. In addition, AFRICA CAPITAL MARKETS FORUM 2023 saw the presence of financial market professionals who will offer solutions enabling financial centers to strengthen their role in the economic development of Africa. As a reminder, the first edition of the conference was held on May 12 and 13, 2022 in Casablanca, Morocco.
Abdul Wahab ADO
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