Nigeria, Kenya get $400,000 seed equity from AFDB

The central depositories of Nigeria and Kenya, have formed a joint venture with Altree Financial Group, with the African Development Bank [AfDB] providing $400,000 in seed equity capital to the new venture, tagged, Africlear Global venture.

The partners are, the Nigeria’s Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), Kenya’s Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), and Altree Financial Group.

The ventures aim at boosting the efficiency of African capital markets by supporting modernizing the infrastructure of the central securities depositories.

The African Development Bank invested $400,000 in seed capital through the fund for Africa Private Sector Assistance in an agreement signed recently in Abidjan. This may inspire more investors to join in building the company.

According to AfDB press release, Africlear will help the depositories to pool their resources and boost buying power on equipment. They will work together to identify, acquire and maintain critical systems and technology, for instance for corporate actions, recording shareholder votes and other investor support services.

The depositories will also share information and expertise.
Africlear will use the money to improve the infrastructure used for post-trading processes such as settlements after a sale is done.

AfDB Vice-President, Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, Solomon Asamoah, Director, Africlear Global, Anthony Fischli, signed the Shareholder and Subscription agreements on behalf of the Bank and Africlear Global, respectively.

The CEO of CSCS, Bukar Kyari, said Africlear will accelerate process standardization and promote system integration across the borders. In his words: “By employing industry best practices, Africlear will facilitate improved levels of transparency and corporate governance within the African capital markets. This will enable local market practitioners to effectively compete for domestic and international capital.”