African capital markets are moving beyond market formation into a phase defined by deeper liquidity, stronger institutions, and improved market infrastructure. Recent reforms across exchanges, regulators, and development institutions point to systems increasingly capable of mobilizing and allocating domestic capital at scale.
Bonface Orucho, bird story agency
African capital markets are entering a new phase of institutional maturity as exchanges, regulators, and development institutions shift their attention from building markets to improving how those markets mobilize capital and support economic growth.
Recent developments from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, and the African Development Bank suggest that the continent’s bourses are becoming deeper and more sophisticated.
According to sector analysts, the current phase is being fueled by reforms aimed at improving market efficiency, expanding investor participation, and unlocking domestic pools of capital.
Speaking at the LMA & ICMA Africa Summit 2026, AFC’s Modupe Famakinwa argued that the continent must “move beyond being a developing market” by building market infrastructure that global investors can trust.
Ethiopia provided one of the clearest signals of this shift. On May 26, Ethio Telecom became the first state-owned enterprise to list on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange. The listing followed a public offering that attracted more than 47,000 investors, marking the first major public offering on the country’s young bourse.
“The listing of Ethio Telecom on the ESX Main Market is not only a major win for ESX but also a testament to the commitment of the Government of Ethiopia to deepen the capital markets,” according to Ethiopian Securities Exchange chief executive Tilahun Esmael Kassahun.
He said the listing establishes an important precedent for transparency, public participation, and long-term value creation.
The listing forms part of Ethiopia’s broader capital market buildout.
The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority and the Ethiopian Securities Exchange recently introduced sustainable securities guidelines covering green, social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked instruments.
According to ECMA Director General Hana Tehelku, the framework is intended “to support sustainable economic growth and encourage investments with positive environmental and social impact.”
Ethiopia’s market infrastructure is also expanding. In April, Awash Bank, the country’s largest private bank, listed more than 54 million shares on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange, giving its 12,143 shareholders access to regulated trading and transparent price discovery through the exchange.
According to the African Development Bank, African institutional investors collectively manage an estimated US$4 trillion in assets. The bank has increasingly argued that stronger domestic capital markets will be essential if more of that capital is to be channeled into infrastructure, industrialization, and long-term economic development across the continent.
Nigeria’s focus has been on market efficiency. On June 1, the country became the first African market to implement a T+1 settlement cycle, reducing settlement time for equity transactions from two business days to one.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the reform is designed to enhance market efficiency, strengthen risk management, reduce counterparty exposure, and align Nigeria’s capital market with international standards.
SEC Director General Emomotimi Agama described the move as a defining moment in the evolution of Nigeria’s financial markets.
“The era of T+1 has begun,” Agama said during the transition ceremony in Lagos. “In just six months, Nigeria has successfully progressed from T+2 to T+1 settlement, joining a growing group of markets embracing faster and more efficient settlement cycles.”
The reform places Nigeria alongside markets such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and India that have adopted faster settlement systems to improve liquidity and reduce trading risk.
Nigeria is also working to expand participation in its capital market. Nigerian Exchange Group recently intensified investor education efforts through a digital campaign that reached more than 5,000 users through a stock market literacy session targeted at young and first-time investors.
“Deepening retail participation is critical to building a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable capital market,” according to Clifford Akpolo, Head of Group Communications and Partnerships at NGX Group.
North Africa is seeing a different stage of market development. In April, Morocco officially launched its futures market and central counterparty clearing house after more than a decade of preparation, introducing a new layer of sophistication to one of Africa’s most established exchanges.
The first instrument available for trading is a futures contract linked to the MASI 20 Index, which tracks the Casablanca Stock Exchange’s 20 largest listed companies.
“This is a historic moment for Morocco,” according to Casablanca Stock Exchange chief executive Nasser Seddiqi. “We are not merely launching new instruments but an entirely new market equipped with world-class infrastructure that will strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of our economy.”
In South Africa, institutional maturity is increasingly reflected through market depth. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange continues to support trading across equities, bonds, exchange-traded funds, and derivatives, providing pension funds, insurers, and asset managers with one of the continent’s most diversified investment environments.
The African Development Bank is seeking to reinforce these national efforts through the African Financial Markets Initiative, launched to develop local currency bond markets and improve transparency across African debt markets.
According to the AfDB, deep and liquid bond markets are essential for countries seeking sustained development driven by market-based capital allocation. Through the initiative, the bank has developed fixed-income databases and investment vehicles designed to strengthen domestic debt markets and improve regional financial integration.
The trend extends well beyond a handful of markets. According to ASIGMA Group’s 2025 review of Africa’s capital markets, countries including Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia are expanding listings, corporate bond activity, exchange-traded funds, REITs, and alternative financing instruments.
In Kenya, products such as the M-Akiba retail bond, Acorn Green Bond, REITs, and exchange-traded funds have broadened participation beyond traditional institutional investors.
Tanzania has, for instance, in recent years, introduced green bonds and expanded corporate debt issuance, while Rwanda has used initiatives such as the Rwanda Investment Clinic to prepare companies for capital market participation.
Taken together, these developments suggest that African capital markets are moving beyond the establishment phase that characterized much of the last two decades.
The focus is increasingly shifting toward liquidity, efficiency, investor participation, product diversity, and the mobilization of long-term domestic capital.
If these reforms deepen, the payoff is structural. The African Development Bank estimates that improved mobilization of domestic resources could unlock up to US$1.43 trillion, while Africa Finance Corporation data shows more than US$4 trillion already sits within African banking systems, institutional funds, and reserves.
As markets deepen and liquidity improves, even modest reallocation of domestic savings into listed instruments would narrow the US$221 billion annual infrastructure gap and lift market depth toward emerging-market levels, positioning African exchanges as core channels for long-term capital formation rather than peripheral fundraising venues.
bird story agency
Useful links for editors:https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/11/africa-capital-markets-report-2025_a973e07d/7d26e1d3-en.pdf,https://esx.et/ethiopian-securities-exchange-announces-the-official-listing-of-ethio-telecom-on-the-esx-main-market/
