IFC, Rwanda Sign Agreement to Develop Country’s Capital Markets

Kigali, Rwanda, August 2008—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Rwanda to help strengthen the country’s capital markets.

Under the agreement, IFC will support Rwanda’s Capital Markets Advisory Council in strengthening the country’s recently launched securities exchange. IFC will help the council develop an appropriate legal and regulatory environment for issuing and trading bonds, implement a training and certification program for securities market participants, and establish a framework for integrating Rwanda’s capital markets with other markets in East Africa.

Henry Gaperi, Chairman of the Capital Markets Advisory Council, said, “Partnering with IFC will enable us to tap into the World Bank Group’s institutional expertise. It will also help expand our investment opportunities in the Rwandan market, particularly in nongovernment bonds.”

Jean Philippe Prosper, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said, “IFC, the World Bank, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have pledged $5.5 million to help establish a program for developing securities markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through this initiative, we are working with governments to enhance institutional capacity in the region and to facilitate market transactions.”

The new program, called Efficient Securities Markets Institutional Development Africa, helps securities market regulators improve their regulatory expertise and design effective environments for mobilizing long-term capital. On the supply side, the program supports potential issuers and intermediaries in bringing transactions to the securities markets.

In East Africa, IFC and the program partners are working with central banks, securities’ regulators, stock exchanges, and other stakeholders to simplify regulations and procedures for issuing and trading bonds, establish an appropriate market structure, strengthen secondary markets, build capacity of market participants, and facilitate regionalization of the markets.