Launch of the 2023 Absa Africa Financial Markets Index

Remarks (Recorded)

Mr. Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary, ECA

Marrakech, Morocco Economic and Monetary Policy Institute

Thu 12 Oct 2023 07:00 - 08:45

Distinguished Delegates,

Experts,

Colleagues,

It is my pleasure et honor to welcome all of you to the launching ceremony of the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index 2023, organized together by OMFIF. 

Colleagues, we all know African countries have long faced great challenges in maintaining financial stability and mobilizing financial resources for sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic, surging inflation, and geopolitical turbulence worsened the prospect of growth and employment. African countries need deeper, healthier, more efficient, and more inclusive financial markets to address the funding needs and safeguard overall socio-economic stability.

Financial markets exist so that money flows to where it is most needed. When they work well, financial markets can be important drivers of prosperity. Strengthening local capital markets and diversifying the investor base will not only help governments mobilize more funding for economic recovery and building back better, also build financial resilience to future shocks.

To develop our financial markets, countries need capacity building, relevant infrastructure, reference tools, benchmarks, and peer-learning to identify the gaps and priorities. Covering 26 African countries, the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index now represents 78% of the continent's population and 82% of its gross domestic product. It is therefore the most prominent tool to provide insights to countries for policymaking and prioritization of financial market development agenda. The Index itself assesses the markets from six pillars, namely market depth, access to foreign exchange, market transparency, tax and regulatory environment, capacity of local investors, macroeconomic environment and transparency, and legal standards and enforceability. Today, as we see new opportunities and challenges emerging quickly, the Index itself also has been evolving to reflect the emerging trends and needs, such as financial technology and ESG policies.

ECA has been assisting member States in developing their domestic financial markets, while shedding special efforts on inclusive and sustainable finance.

ECA has acknowledged the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index as a guideline for policymaking and peer-learning in the forewords of the recent publications.

In OMFIF's continuous endeavors supported by ECA, this workshop will present the 2023 edition of the Index, highlight the market updates, address technical questions on data sources, methodologies, and compilation of indicators, and discuss with stakeholders the key issues that are significant for financial market development in Africa.

We expect that through this workshop, countries, stakeholders, and experts would have better awareness and understanding of the Index and provide your valuable feedback through dynamic discussions with the author team and with each other. Let me once again welcome all of you to this presentation workshop, and I wish you successful and fruitful deliberations.

Thank you. 

Source: UNECA