WASRA to Boost Infrastructure Financing, Plans Bond Issuing Framework

Goddy Egene

The West African Securities Regulatory Authorities (WASRA) is to establish a regional bond issuing framework as part of efforts to enhance infrastructure financing in the region.

This was one of the high points of the meeting of the body held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire last weekend.

Also, WASRA is working towards building relationship with ECOWAS Commission, the supervision model needed for the establishment of cross border transaction and issuers, the development of the WASRA website, the signing of the Revised Charter of WASRA and the assigning of web master to a member country amongst others.

Chairman of WASRA, Mr. Mory Soumahoro, whose tenure was extended for another two years, stated these at the end of the meeting.

Soumahoro, who is the Executive Secretary of Le Conseil Regional de l’Epargne Publique et des Marches Financiers (CREPMF) Abidjan, thanked the members for the confidence and the leadership bestowed on him and he spoke on his desire to continue the efforts already in place that brought the organisation to its current dimension. He said: “I am pleased with this opportunity and for the confidence bestowed on me and looking forward to strengthen our cooperation by looking at the same direction with the specificity of our respective markets to strengthen integration in our region.”

Speaking at the meeting, the Acting Director General, SEC Nigeria, Dr. Abdul Zubair, commended WASRA members on their determination to build a strong and competitive regional market that will rank at par with the markets of other regions of the world, and more importantly in the areas of transparency, disclosure, efficiency, accountability and indeed, investor protection.

While congratulating the Chairman on his re-election, Zubair noted the imperative of a cohesive collaboration among the relevant regulators, opera- tors and other stakeholders in West Africa, and the need to ensure that adequate resources are devoted.

WASRA is a regional organisation for West African countries that aims to fashion out modalities and to establish an umbrella body as mutually acceptable basis for cooperation and consultations meant to foster market integration in the region. WASRA, established in 2015, is the recognised forum for capital markets regulators in the West African sub-region.

Capital market regulators in the sub-region came together to establish a mutually acceptable basis for cooperation and consultations in a bid to foster market integration in the region.