Wanetsha Mosinyi
28 November 2008
In an effort to create a unique brand for Africa, pan-African commodities and derivatives exchange operator Multi-Commodity Exchange of Africa (MCX Africa) has changed its name to Bourse Africa ahead of operating from Botswana in the next financial year.
This was confirmed by the CEO of the Botswana International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), Alan Boshwaen in an interview on Wednesday.
"The simple explanation is that they wanted a different brand name from their Indian promoters, MCX India, and a brand that uniquely represents Africa," Boshwaen says.
All stakeholders, including the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), have been informed about the name change.
Boshwaen says inspite of the change of name, the company will not change any aspects of its initial business plan.
In its 2008 annual report released two weeks ago, Botswana IFSC says that together with the Ministry of Finance and NBFIRA, Botswana IFSC is currently facilitating the launch of the exchange next year.The commodities and derivatives exchange, which will be based in Gaborone, will employ 75 professionals to help develop the country's capital markets in the first phase.Bourse Africa early this year submitted an application for accreditation to the Botswana IFSC to trade in a variety of major commodities.The exchange is expected to bring a myriad benefits to Botswana and the African continent.
It will also provide domestic and international investors with attractive new asset classes.
In addition, the exchange will spawn an ecosystem of ancillary service providers including targeted brokers, banks and other financial services institutions."Across the continent, Bourse Africa will help buyers and sellers of African commodities achieve better price discovery," Boshwaen says. "This will lead to African producers realising greater value for their commodities."With a hub and spoke model centred in Botswana, Bourse Africa will also open subsidiary markets in five major commodities-producing markets in the continent with a view to expanding to over 50 countries in the future.
The lead sponsor of Bourse Africa remains Financial Technologies India Limited (FTIL), which is a global leader in creating and operating techno-centric and next-generation financial markets.
Financial markets promoted by FTIL are known to be transparent, efficient and liquid across multi-asset classes including equities, commodities, currencies and bonds.FTIL owns MCX India, the Mumbai-based commodities exchange that has revolutionised commodities trading in the Indian sub-continent. After only four years in business, MCX India is the world's 8th largest commodities exchange.
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