Investor Services

The African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP) is a flagship project of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to facilitate cross-border trading of securities in Africa. A dedicated website for the AELP is acessible at www.africanexchangeslink.com.

AELP has been launched a on 7 December 2022, to enable seamless cross-border securities trading among seven African stock exchanges representing 2,000 companies with roughly $1.5 trillion market capitalization. The AELP Link Trading Platform incorporates stock market integration, an order routing system, and market and order-book data sharing. AELP is a joint initiative of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) and the African Development Bank. Through a grant from Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund (KOAFEC), the Bank is funding ASEA’s phased rollout of the project.

The first phase of the AELP connects7 stock exchanges including the SEM. The 7 Exchanges are across 14 African countries: Mauritius, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union, which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. The system is being deployed in partnership with DirectFN Ltd. AELP is sought to improve the depth and liquidity of Africa’s capital markets and foster investment flows among the participating Exchanges by enabling:

• Cross-border securities trading using an order-routing system (AELP Link technology platform) to channel orders between Stockbrokers on participating Exchanges
• A Stockbroker sponsors the trade on the host Exchange
• Custody and settlement will be on the host Exchange according to its market rules and practice. Sponsoring broker and local custodian will be involved.

Aims of AELP

AELP will improve the depth and liquidity of Africa’s capital markets and foster investment flows among the participating Exchanges by enabling:

• Cross-border securities trading using an order-routing system (AELP Link technology platform) to channel orders between Stockbrokers on participating Exchanges
• A Stockbroker sponsors the trade on the host Exchange
• Custody and settlement will be on the host Exchange according to its market rules and practice. Sponsoring broker and local custodian will be involved
• Live trading information among linked Exchanges and market participants
• Promote the African Listed Securities asset class and creating new products and securities on the linked Exchanges so that asset managers, stockbrokers, institutional investors and individual investors can identify investment opportunities across African markets
• Cross-border capital raising and Initial Public Offers (IPOs)
• Develop capacity between the Exchanges and boost collaboration between capital market Regulators, Central Banks and central depositories.