Capital Markets Association of Malawi and other industry players have embarked on a nationwide financial literacy campaign to sensitise the public to investment opportunities available on the 16-counter Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE).
The campaign, which started on Monday in the lakeshore district of Karonga known for various business activities and home to Kayelekera Uranium Mine, is spearheaded by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) and targets all the country’s regions.
The team conducting the campaign includes capital market players such as stockbrokers and investors under Minority Shareholders Association of Listed Companies (Misalico), among others.
In an interview yesterday, one of the experts with the team, Kondwani Makwakwa, who is Stockbrokers Malawi Limited equity investment analyst, described the sensitisation campaign as critical for boosting investment uptake on MSE.
He said: “Many Malawians lack adequate knowledge about the stock market and its benefits, which contributes to low participation.
“Raising awareness through campaigns could help to increase participation.”
Makwakwa said the campaign has come at the right time as mining companies are considering to list on MSE further strengthening and increasing investment opportunities on the bourse.
“If these companies list, they will help in giving options to investors as they will be able to choose from a number of companies which will eventually assist price discovery for the market,” he said.
Misalico secretary general Frank Harawa said in an interview yesterday that the campaign will be implemented in phases, with the first phase targeting the remotest areas before moving to urban areas.
He said: “We are thankful to RBM for understanding our plea because low patronage of locals on the stock market means most Malawians are not tapping the investment opportunities available at the equity market.
“Through this process, people from the remotest areas will understand how to buy shares and co-own some of the country’s biggest companies, which would earn the dividends as well as capital gains over time because of increasing share prices.”
Makwakwa and Harawa described the public’s response as positive, saying students and community members they have met have expressed excitement to participate in the equity market.
RBM spokesperson Mark Lungu was not immediately available for comment yesterday, but central bank deputy governor MacDonald Mafuta Mwale earlier pledged improved working relationships with the Capital Markets Association of Malawi to ensure the growth of the sector.
Capital Markets Association of Malawi chairperson John Robson Kamanga said the sector conducts awareness campaigns to enlighten the people on the benefits of MSE despite continued low participation by the public.
“This is a very important step in trying to educate the local masses to utilise the opportunities the market has to offer,” he said.
Kamanga, who is MSE chief executive officer, said apart from trading of shares, the market also offers a debt platform, which gives an opportunity for people to earn interest by investing on the platform with as little as K1 000.
MSE was established in 1994, but started equity trading in November 1996 when it first listed National Insurance Company Limited now Nico Holdings plc.
Thirty years since its establishment, MSE remains the smallest equity market in the Southern Africa Development Community region.
