WAEMU secures grant for development of regional financial markets infrastructure
The African Development Bank Group approved USD400,000 in grant funding in December for technical assistance to support automation of securities issuance by the Regional Financial Market of the West African Economic & Monetary Union (WAEMU).
WAEMU member countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo – are working toward greater regional integration with unified external tariffs and a streamlined legal environment. The Regional Financial Market is a key component of the regional financial system and plays a vital role as a complementary source of local currency and long-term financing for the WAEMU economies.
The grant is to fund technical assistance to set up a digital platform, hosted by the Dépositaire Central/Banque de Règlement (which serves as the settlement bank for WAEMU bloc), to offer market stakeholders ready access to real-time securities data. It will also enable the automation of securities subscription and help reduce the holding period preceding subscription allocations and registration.
“We are delighted for this first partnership with the Dépositaire Central/Banque de Règlement, after the Bank’s earlier project to support the development of financial markets in the West African Economic and Monetary Union,” said Ahmed Attout, Manager of the African Development Bank’s capital markets development division. “The Bank support is expected to foster a world class regional trading platform and provides the necessary financial infrastructure for a deeper domestic resources mobilisation.”
The grant will be sourced from the multi-donor Capital Markets Development Trust Fund, which is administered by the African Development Bank and supported by the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Cooperation of the Netherlands.
