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FSE Listings: An African Manifesto For Frankfurt Stock Exchange Listings

Africa as a continent has an impressive record of well over 2,000 companies listed on all of the combined exchanges. Some of these exchanges have under 100 listings, and others such as the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Altx, and other markets have several hundred.

Within Angola a new stock market is in the process of launching, Angolan Stock Exchange (BVA). The BVA will be located in Luanda, the political and economic capital of Angola.

Of the 14 countries that comprise the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Angola is one of only three countries that does not have an institutionalised stock market.

The local executives firmly believe that the stock market will attract foreign investment into the market in addition contribute a considerable amount of taxes for transactions within the region related to trading.

Many of the African countries, understandably so, initially started focusing on an upper tier of clientele and a large market cap per issuer. Thus creating more stable and viable indexes for international investment. In Nigeria, the offer to list for free large Oil and Telecommunications corporations is another example of the market catering to the large business ventures and established companies. For the most part, the impressive list of companies within the African Continent per region is still 80-90% large corporations and 10-20% venture.

In comparison to other markets such as the NASDAQ (which include the OTCBB) Frankfurt Stock Exchange Listings, or TSX, this is a vast contrast where listings are 80% venture and development companies and 10-20% larger corporations. Of course this is all relative to the larger size of these three exchanges in comparison to any individual African exchange or the sum of all.

However, it is because of this Venture capacity that many African companies and assets do list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, TSX, and AIM. For the most part, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the most affordable in listing fees, maintenance, and disclosure requirements and remains the most liquid European Exchange. The African Expert, FSE Listings Inc, www.fselistings.com specialises in listing companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange from African Countries. In the advent of Venture Capitalists, support from companies like FSE Listings Inc, OTCListings.com, and other outside market listing companies actually will attract foreign investment into the African countries, possibly more than the exchanges themselves. The venture oriented exchanges allow for African companies and assets to list with minimal cost and to be able to access multi-trillion euro and dollar market places.

It is actually popular opinion that it is still easier, cheaper, and more lucrative to list companies in Frankfurt with FSE Listings Inc than to utilize a domestic market that is targeting a larger tier client that can afford the exhausting cost of auditors, legal support, sponsors, and exchange fees. The weakness of most African exchanges is that they ONLY seem to cater to this audience and do not have low cost entry fees, quotation boards, and venture capital. African venture capital is a European word, and North American word for investing into emerging markets, for the most part it is not yet an African term, because true venture capital like what is seen in the Silicon Valley, the Toronto Stock Exchange, or in Frankfurt, just doesn’t exist yet on the Continent. Attempts have been made by exchanges like the Altx, however the desire to target larger firms and not to work the paperload of 500 – 1000 new listings a year like the OTCBB or Frankfurt Listings, hinders these venture upstart markets. Essentially they suffer from slow uptake and lack of listings in width and depth.

One of the most important initiatives any African Stock Exchange* could make would be to link their clearing system with Euroclear and Clearstream standards to ensure ease of access into the market. Currently, the easiest way from African companies to do this is to make a primary listing on the Frankfurt Exchange. However, venture exchanges within Africa with linkages for share settling will propel themselves and grow in the right direction.

FSE Listings Inc within the African continent is dedicated to empowering local companies and assets by listing them on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and assisting in introductions, road shows, and capital oriented meetings to attract foreign investment. With representatives within South Africa’s financial hub of Sandton Johannesburg, FSE caters to all African entrepreneurs. FSE also has representatives within the US, Canada, Belize, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Spain, Mozambique, and many others. We cater to those who have only 60,000 euro to build the public company, to firms that are worth several billion Rand.

FSE Listings is very interested in working within the African countries and catering to businesses who would like to raise capital easily without the costs of domestic exchanges, controls, and barriers in local markets presented by competitive relationships and positioning. What most companies don’t realize is the first step to going international is financing international. Your firm doesn’t have to be on an island of its own when electronically within this day and age, from Africa you can do business daily with Europe and beyond.

FSE strongly believes in the African market, especially for stock market investment. The indicator that most prominently supports this strong belief is the rising number of internet users across the continent. The internet fuelled the investment boom that helped make possible the NASDAQ clearing the 10,000 benchmark in the 90’s and early 2000 boom. The access to many more investors who can instantly trade shares and research companies changed the face of investment and stock markets permanently. The same is being achieved in Africa as more and more people come online. Online usage on the African continent has grown from 2000 to 2009 over 1800% with 86,217,900 internet users.** This is only 8.7% of the total market as well! For this reason, listing your company in Africa as an African company is a smart long term strategy. Africa is the fastest growing continent for internet usage growth. In order to attract your fellow African investors and European Foreign investment, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the ideal market to list on. The African Listing Expert is www.fselistings.com, info@fselistings.com. Clients can either list their firms directly or possibly there are existing firms willing to merge with your African business.

Many African countries have been impoverished in Civil Wars, however, each individual economy is becoming more stable, growing rapidly, and becoming powerful. The Angolan market is another perfect example of growth, growing stability, and the right assets and initiative to drive forward. FSE Listings Inc is very interested in helping firms to advance within these types of emerging African markets that we know have high growth and visibility to foreign investors.

With the resources of a Country like Angola they will become the third largest African Stock Exchange next to the JSE and Nigeria, and we salute the effort. We also believe that there is a fantastic market of entrepreneurs, medium sized businesses that may not qualify for any of the three African Exchanges mentioned, who want to raise capital and grow… FSE Listings Inc fills that void.

It is true the financial crisis has hit European markets and African markets alike. However, the Deutsche Boerse in comparison is still out performing top exchanges in volume and capital, and remains a large market place and economy to work within. Where the economy has stunted many African exchanges growth, their companies financing, and the stability of their market, the German market has remained home to the euro and the most stable market within the Union giving it the financial backbone necessary to succeed. In any event, the lower euro price actually makes it cheaper for many of the African nations to list, where the currencies have grown in strength unless they are already a Euro country.

FSE Listings as an entrepreneurial catalyst within the African continent aims to diversify the African economy away from just Oil and Gas or Gold, however also lucrative listing markets, but we also embrace the tech market, green market, agro, transportation, medical, construction, entertainment, telecom, etc. Moving the Countries dependence from a local market to an international market will eventually stimulate the local economy from the influx of capital.

The potential goal is to make the Frankfurt Stock Exchange the largest African exchange with a wide and diverse scope of clients catering to entrepreneurship and not just a specific industry or size of company. You can be as big and powerful as you want to make yourself, the choice is on who and how you position yourself. List with FSE Listings Inc to succeed within the right posture and global position.

* African Stock Exchanges

Bolsa de Valores de Mozambique – Mozambique

Botswana Stock Exchange – Gaborone, Botswana

Bourse des Valeurs d’Abidjan – Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges – Cairo, Egypt

Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Ghana Stock Exchange – Accra, Ghana

JSE Limited – Sandown, South Africa

La Bourse de Casablanca (Management Company) – Casablanca, Morocco

Lusaka Stock Exchange – Lusaka, Zambia

Malawi Stock Exchange – Blantyre, Malawi

Nairobi Stock Exchange – Nairobi, Kenya

Namibian Stock Exchange – Windhoek, Namibia

Nigerian Stock Exchange – Lagos, Nigeria

Stock Exchange of Mauritius – Port Louis, Mauritius

Swaziland Stock Exchange – Mbabane, Swaziland

Uganda Securities Exchange Limited – Kampala, Uganda

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange – Harare, Zimbabwe

** http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm