Integration plays a key role in Africa's investment opportunities

Africa is changing and offers numerous opportunities for international entrepreneurs in different areas. Partnerships between some African countries are also facilitating international investment.  

Atalayar spoke about these issues with Felix Edo Kossi Amenounve, General Director of BRVM in Ivory Coast, during the Africa-Spain Cooperation Summit held in Madrid last July.  

Felix Edo Kossi Amenounve, General Director of BRVM in Côte d'Ivoire, thank you for joining us. What is your appreciation of the Africa-Spain Cooperation Summit? What is the objective you think we are going to achieve?  

This summit is a good opportunity to talk about Africa's potential in terms of investment and the role that financial institutions can play in this potential. It is important to discuss with our partners in Spain how we, as stock exchanges and the whole ecosystem of stock exchanges, are preparing our environment to facilitate investment in our continent.

On this occasion I have met with many institutions that are based here and are willing to invest in Africa. We discussed what they want to see, what opportunities they want to have and how we can help them invest in our continent.  

Information and communication is very important because Africa has 54 countries. Each one is different, so Spanish businessmen can be informed about what is happening in each country.  

Exactly. Yes, we have 54 countries with different potentials and opportunities. And we have, in some cases, some integrated communities and countries. In our case, the WAEMU, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, is an integrated space that brings together eight countries in the Francophone zone of West Africa. So investors coming from Spain do not have to look at just one country or at each one of them, but at the WAEMU as a whole. That is very important because if they come to Côte d'Ivoire they have access to the other seven countries in our region.

We believe that integration is key to maximising investment opportunities in our continent. When you enter one of the WAEMU countries, you have a whole environment of 120 million people in the same space. That is very important. In a space where everything is integrated you have a central bank, you have a development bank or a capital market. So you can move in this environment without any difficulty.

Can Spanish companies enter the stock markets of African countries? Under what conditions? 

We are international. We are one of the most important capital markets on the continent. And our market is international. Any company can be listed on our market and any investor can come and invest in our market. They just have to meet all the criteria that we impose on all companies that want to come to our market. It must be a company registered in our area. We only require some financial criteria that are low criteria for these companies to come from Spain.

But the important thing, from my point of view, is to create a partnership between our companies and Spanish companies to create value in our countries in the long term and to bring these companies to the capital market to raise money locally and develop their business. This is very important. And we are open to it and we will be happy for Spanish companies to come into the WAEMU area to work with us.

Companies from any sector?  

From any sector. Because all sectors in Africa are very important. We focus on agriculture because for us it is key to develop our agricultural sector in our countries. We also have technology, which is very important. We believe that the future of Africa is based on agriculture, industry and technology.

We also have to invest in social areas like education and health. But it is important to tell our partners that we have great opportunities in our countries. We are developing countries. We have to build for the long term and we need a long-term partnership with our Spanish partners.  

What about energy? Europe needs energy, especially green energy.  

Green energy is also a key thing for us because, as African countries, we have solar energy. So we have to develop solar energy. It is a very important sector to meet the needs of our population.

There are a lot of green energy opportunities in Africa.  

In Spain and in Europe people and entrepreneurs have to overcome the image of Africa of 10 or 20 years ago. Now Africa is developing. Every country in Africa offers very good opportunities in all these sectors. So information must be a main role to go to Africa without fears, without clichés.  

Exactly. The media focus too much on the bad things that happen in Africa, but those who travel in Africa know that things are changing and that there are very positive things in Africa.

Our continent has made incredible progress in the last 10 years. And our partners can see that when they come to Africa. We have many European companies that have invested in Africa and are happy to be with us. But as you say, we have too high a risk perception of Africa that is disconnected from the reality of the continent. We have to change it. If you want to change it, we have to go to these kinds of summits to promote our continent. We have to talk to you to tell you what is positive in Africa. And for me, that is also our role as Africans: to promote our continent positively.  

As a Spanish businessman, what is your message to me and to the rest of the businessmen?

My message would be that the future is in Africa. Come and let's work together to develop Africa, to give Africans the opportunity to benefit from your experience and create together health in Africa and work together in a win-win relationship. That is very important. Don't be so cautious about what is going to happen, the political risk and so on. You have to look at the long term. Invest and expect to be back in two or three years. No speculation, no speculative money. Come to Africa, invest in Africa and stay with us for 20, 30, 50 years.