Starting today, November 10-11 Uganda will host a high profile gathering of Association of Stock Exchanges in Africa.

Mr. David Mugabe talked to Mr. Samwiri Njuki, USE Governing Council Chairman and a seasoned financial expert about what Africa and Uganda should expect and what is happening in the industry amidst the global financial crisis. Excerpts

QUESTION: What is the timing, why is it being held in Uganda this year?

USE is celebrating ten years of operation, we are therefore honoured to host this August body here while marking this important milestone in Uganda's financial development. But the management of USE is the one that negotiated Uganda hosting this conference.

What then is ASEA and what was the thinking behind its formation?

ASEA stands for African Securities Exchanges Association. It was founded in 1993 and boasts of 29 members.

The thinking behind it was to have a forum where stock exchanges in Africa have a forum where they can share ideas. You see, there are those that are one year old and those that are 100 years.

It was good to help each other to grow and share experiences and also to have a forum for one voice on the continent.

Say if each stock exchange in Africa (there are 52 countries) went alone on their own in international meetings, it would have no impact, but as a group it is very significant.

This is the 12th conference, what has been achieved over the years?

Globalisation is here to stay. The bigger we are as a unit, the better. ASEA has helped smaller and bigger members to speak together. For example in Uganda when we started with our first product, the EADB bond issue, we did not have the technical know how on structuring a bond, but we were helped. So you pick the past experiences of others and use it.

Does the current global financial meltdown which is steadily trickling to Uganda and Africa appear on the agenda of the conference which agenda I believe was drawn a while ago?

It will inevitably appear because our theme is "Africa on the Move-Capital Markets Driving Economic Transformation."

We cannot be on the move without addressing the current scenarios. Generally speaking, we cannot avoid speaking about it. We will devote some time in addressing these questions like how will Uganda fair, how will Africa fair.

The basic is that equity is a function of profitability, the moment profit is affected, people lose interest and they take a walk. As a result, currently there is a drove of people getting out so the price plummets. In Uganda, prices have been readjusted because some were over priced. Institutional investors and fund managers are busy pulling out. But it is temporary because as far as am concerned, equity is for long term.

As stocks continue to shed value, how can this very high level summit of Africa's stock exchanges reassure a worried and panicking public?

I don't know whether it is geared to addressing this issue, because it is a conglomerate of exchanges. But one thing they are capable of doing is informing the members of what is going on globally. But these things happen. Stocks are not for those who don't have the time to understand the fundamentals.

What will this conference achieve?

This meeting is basically to draw up a map where we are going, what vehicles we will use, who will be doing what. When members of the same family meet, it is an achievement. We want to see where Africa should head in the next decades. I can see we will be bunched into regional bourses under one apex body. It is opportune that now we have this circus going on. I hope that when we meet, we shall structure Africa to have a human face because there is a tendency of looking at only money.

Will ASEA address the issue of fraud orchestrated by dealers, a matter that is quickly picking up especially in East Africa?

ASEA can only address it in general terms because of jurisdiction. ASEA has to recognize that individual transactions can blow into global issues.

It is a common rule that you don't allow rogue dealers to get away with their deeds. If you allow guys to get away with bad things, you are asking for trouble.

Here we say, if you do something wrong, own up, pay a penalty. If you insist, some other measures will be taken.

ASEA should look at issues like if you get a rogue dealer and he runs to a neighbouring country that should not be allowed. We should have a system where we literally blacklist rogue operators.

Are there any specific concerns that ASEA would like to appeal about either to member governments or to the citizens?

The best way to protect citizens is by informing the citizens of their rights. Here USE and CMA are trying their level best to educate the citizens.

But we are pushing for certain laws to be passed to protect the citizens, but at the same time, we should learn to anticipate global developments

Stock exchange business continues to be somewhat elitist especially in the new markets, when will we have the mass citizenry who I believe equally need it playing a greater part?

I think it is basically policy. Our attitude to saving is not encouraging and not encouraged. Interest on your savings account is taxed yet they want you to save, why should it be taxed.

The other thing about policy is we have been advocating about pension liberalization but nothing is happening.

If we have term funds from liberalized pension, returns to pensions would be very high to start with.

Secondly, the more operators, the better returns for pensioners. So issues of policy have to be addressed very urgently.

How can the activities of ASEA impact positively on the lives of the ordinary population who form the bigger chunk of most of African countries?

If ASEA manages to communicate to its members to be effective and efficient, then the ordinary citizen will benefit. If ASEA is effective, then you can buy shares anywhere in Africa.

Going forward, what should we expect from ASEA in the short term and in the long term, say 30 years?

Right now we have 29 members but we expect it to grow. The members will coalesce into regional groupings say East Africa will be part of Southern Africa. We expect volumes to increase for regional groupings.

We expect efficiencies to increase because of volumes. Because of cross border transactions, settlement will also be efficiently done.