Moremi Marwa Shares his Goals and Vision for the Future of Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange

Moremi Marwa, CEO of Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, shares his goals and vision for the future of DSE for the next few years.

“What we intend to see happening by the time we reach 2022 is to see our stock market used more as one of the platforms for finance for development. Currently, we see some improvement; however, we want to see our contribution become even better and become relatively significant. Currently, the domestic market cap to GDP is less than 10%. And for any measure that level is not good, especially for a middle-income economy. If we can get to about 15% of our domestic market cap to GDP, then that is where our contribution to the economic development in terms of financing enterprises and development projects will be to the extent that is expected for a middle-income country. The second and broader objective is to make sure that we have instruments, meaning products or more securities which are listed on the Exchange, from the equity and bonds to different kinds of bonds. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, we want to see some more green bonds issued in the market. We want to see our local governments and municipals also using the capital markets to finance some of their local development projects, which is currently not the case. Currently, our bond market is largely dominated by the treasury bonds, which are issued by the central government. So, if local governments can issue municipal bonds and get listed on the Exchange and enable more citizens participating in financing their local development projects, that is something that we want to see. Green bonds are products that have large traction from global impact investors but also local investors who are interested to see how we are running businesses while conscious into the idea of environmentally friendly. If we have green bonds, that is something which will attract investors to participate. And then, we have Tanzanians who are in the diaspora who want to participate in financing their local economy here. If there can be an issuance of diaspora bonds to enable Tanzanians who are in the diaspora to participate in financing our domestic economy, that is something we also want to see happening. We also want to see other instruments that will enable retail investors to come into the market. If we can list, for example, ETFs, or the closed ended collective investment schemes, which provide a platform for retail investors who are not sophisticated but also who want to limit their risks of investment in the market, then you need funds, which are managed by professional fund managers, which are also listed on the market. So, if we can see those kinds of instruments being listed on the market by 2022, then we will see that we have grown. In terms of achieving these goals, what we are doing includes engagement with policymakers, engagement with potential issuers, engagement with various stakeholders, so that at the end of the day, the Exchange is here to provide the legal and technological infrastructure as a platform for the government and private sector to raise funds and capital for their expansion from the central government to a local government, state owned entities or private enterprises – we would like this platform for raising capital to be more utilized. We are here and we are providing that platform, both through our legal and technological infrastructure. We want to engage more so that people can use this platform efficiently”, says Moremi Marwa.

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