MSE touts growth

Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) says it has registered growth in total market capitalisation despite not listing any new company on the market since 2008.

MSE chief executive officer John Kamanga said in an interview on Thursday that the market, which has recorded a 23.5 percent growth in domestic listed companies and 244.8 percent for all listed companies, is a crucial institution for the economy.

“It is clear that the stock market has a key role to play in the country’s economy as well as the institution, which cannot be ignored looking at the returns that it has provided to the economy.

“The market plays a facilitation role of savings mobilisation in the country and it is savings that enable investment which leads to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth,” he said.

The MSE CEO added that the stock market provides the platform for capitalising in terms of equity participation and bond issuing.

And on listing new counters, Kamanga, while acknowledging the tremendous performance of the stock market, said it might take time for potential investors to return to the market after fleeing economic underperformance in previous years.

“We are coming from a background where interest rates and shares, among other economic indicators, have not performed well, making it hard for people to invest in the stock market.

“During that era, some of the investors experienced capital losses, sending a bad signal to potential investors. Since then, when asked to come and invest on the market, investors tell us that they are still restructuring and have not returned or invested in the market,” he explains.

But in bid to woo more market players, Kamanga says the local shares market created an alternative capital market targeting small and medium enterprises to create an enabling and fair market, but it notes that it is not bearing fruits.

“We find that most people are still struggling to meet the revised listing requirements. This is so because most of the potential investors have not embraced issues of corporate governance; hence, find it difficult to make it through the market,” he says.

Kamanga further disclosed that the share market will this year focus on bond market.