WACMaC conference to focus on effective regulation

The West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) will hold its biennial West Africa Capital Market Conference (WACMaC) in Accra, Ghana from May 23 to 25.

The conference has as its theme “Deepening and Strengthening the Capital Markets across West Africa Though Effective Regulation”.

This was disclosed by the Director General Securities and Exchange Commission, Lamido Yuguda who is also the Chairman of WASRA.

According to Yuguda, the conference brings together experts, top government officials, captains of industry, international organisations and other key stakeholders to discus issues of regional concerns and seek ways to further drive regional integration through the capital market.

He said, “WACMaC provides a veritable platform for networking as over 300 participants would gather to reflect on issues affecting regional integration and proffer practical solutions to address such issues while also solutions around where our strategic efforts should be focussed in the coming years,

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“As a region, we have advanced we have advanced by bringing together focused initiatives intended to engender trust and confidence as we consistently aim for deeper and more resilient capital market”.

WACMaC is a biennial event that seeks to present the West African region and indeed Africa as a whole the opportunity to address important issues related to the orderly growth and development of the regional and continental capital market.

Since it’s introduction, WACMaC has become the foremost and revered gathering in the capital market of West Africa and Africa in

The conference will open with a Seminar for Regulators, Exchanges and Depositories in the region, followed by the public conference with speakers and panellists drawn from Regulatory agencies, investment funds, inter-regional economic bodies, as well as eminent researchers and academics.

The WACMaC is a biennial event for the capital market community in the region and is jointly organised by WASRA, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Capital Market Integration Council (WACMIC), and the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI).

To prudently discuss the theme, specific thematic areas that will be addressed include access to finance, sustainable finance, cooperation and investor protection, investor education and innovative finance and technology.

Others are private equity and venture capital in SMEs financing in Africa as well as Islamic finance.

The WACMaC objectives are, among others to: promote the economic integration through the capital market in West Africa; bring innovative solutions to reduce the gap between capital markets and the financial needs of the economy in the region; and increase awareness and capacity building around the benefits of regional integration for each stakeholder;

Other objectives are to identify key actions for capital markets’ stakeholders to sustain economic growth; and address critical issues related to project financing sustainability and cross border issuers and market operators.