The launching conference of the African Finance Laboratory “AfricaFinLab” was held in Abidjan at the headquarters of the BRVM under the chairmanship of Mr. Bruno KONE, Ivorian Minister of Communication, the Digital Economy and the Post Office. At the end of this conference, Dr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE, Managing Director of the BRVM, has been appointed President of AfricaFinLab.
AfricaFinLab is a laboratory of ideas, support and promotion of finance in
Africa, serving public and private actors. Its main objective is to intervene
levers, which are transforming African finance by relying, in particular on
exchanges and international cooperation.
AfricaFinlab also aims to support African finance actors in
the new era of global finance, which is a more direct, digital, innovative finance
and a heavy consumer of skills and talents.
This initiative is part of an African context of necessary mobilization of massive financing, estimated by UNCTAD between $ 600bn and € 1200bn a year, to finance economic growth, diversification of African economies, modernization of basic infrastructure, etc. At the global level, we are witnessing the transformation of the financial industry as a whole, with the emergence of a new disruptive finance, which opens up new opportunities for African finance, especially since the continent seems to integrate it quickly.
To support these developments, AfricaFinLab has set itself as priority areas for action:
– Support the development of African capital markets, in support of financing African economies and growth;
– Support the innovation and digitization of finance, in particular the FinTech development;
– Create a framework for the development of skills and talents.
On each of these axes, the objective is to develop “ecosystems” to create the critical mass of exchanges and activities necessary for the mobilization of the different concerned.
The first concrete initiatives of AfricaFinLab concern:
– The launch of the first phase of the Observatory of African Finance, diffused from the Internet site: http://www.africafinlab.com/fr/observatoire-dela-finance-africaine
– The organization on May 14 in Tunis, in partnership with the Central Bank of Tunisia and with the technical support of the Talan Group, Africa BlockChain Summit, bringing together several central banks in Africa.
This meeting will also be an opportunity to organize a Hackathon on cross-border remittances: https://www.africablockchainsummit.com
– The continuation of the promotion of participatory financing in Africa, in the continuity of the first works, conducted by AfricaFinLab on an economic analysis of the challenges of crowdfunding in Africa and the proposal of a legal framework, good practices drawn from international experiences the most successful.
The next steps are to set up a fund dedicated to investment in listed securities in Africa, the acceleration of green finance and financing of infrastructures, the development of the Fintechs in Africa, etc.
At the end of the AfricaFinlab launch ceremony, Mr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE,
Managing Director of the BRVM has been appointed President of AfricaFinlab.
Mr. Edoh Kossi AMENOUNVE, Managing Director of the BRVM and DC / BR, said: “the BRVM is pleased to support the development of finance in Africa, as main lever of continental transformation. The laboratory will be a crucible of new ideas and new talents that will build the financial Africa of tomorrow “.
Arnaud de Bresson, Director General of Paris EUROPLACE stressed: “The establishment
of AfricaFinLab, unifying tool for African, French and African finance actors European Union, reflects our common determination to meet the challenges of finance modern, which are the necessary mobilization of new financing channels for accompany economic growth; the development of ecosystems favorable to digital finance and the development of expertise and know-how in the new fields of finance. This initiative is also intended to strengthen cooperation between the French and African financial centers in terms of development of
financial markets “.
About Paris EUROPLACE:
Paris EUROPLACE is the organization responsible for developing and promoting at the international level the Paris financial center and, in general, the French financial industry. It brings together all stakeholders: issuing companies, investors, banking and financial intermediaries, legal and accounting professions, consulting firms, market authorities, or more than 400 members. The association is chaired by Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Board of ENGIE.www.paris-europlace.com
LinkedIn: Paris EUROPLACE
Twitter: @europlace
About the BRVM
Covered on the baptismal font on December 18, 1996 in Cotonou (BENIN), the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) is a fully integrated electronic exchange common to 8 West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. In addition to shareholdings (shares), the BRVM offers the issue and trading of debt securities (bonds). The BRVM offers investors a world-class trading environment with state-of-the-art trading and settlement systems. The BRVM is a member of the Executive Committee of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) and is the Chairman of the Council for the Integration of Capital Markets in West Africa (WACMIC). Since November 2016 it has been classified in the category of frontier markets
by the MSCI.
www.brvm.org
LinkedIn: Regional Stock Exchange
Twitter: @BRVM_UEMOA
