#Bank #EntreprisesLife #Finance #EGYPT
Denys Bédarride
Friday 4 September 2020 Last update on Friday, September 4, 2020 At 3:00 PM

Egyptian stockbroker, EFG Hermes, plans to expand its product offerings in the Nigerian financial market and plans expansion in West Africa. The announcement comes amid gloomy backdrop for trading in the target markets.

EFG Hermes, an Egyptian firm specializing in investment and stock brokerage services, wishes to increase its volume of activity in Nigeria, and in West Africa.

“We are currently looking to expand our local offering to include fixed income trading, a structured product offering, as well as a local investment banking offering,” said Ali Khalpey, branch manager of the company in charge of frontier markets, according to comments reported by Bloomberg.

EFG Hermes entered the Nigerian financial market by acquiring the brokerage firm Primera Africa which weighs significantly on the volume of transactions carried out within the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The company plans to capitalize on demand for Nigerian debt securities such as treasury bills and long-term government bonds, despite falling yields and difficulty repatriating funds by foreign investors.

This announcement comes as the dynamism of the Lagos Stock Exchange is put to the test. Transaction volumes were only 103.5 billion naira (approximately $ 265.5 million). They are down 9.8% compared to May, and this is the lowest monthly trading volume since the start of 2020.

The other challenge is that international investors feel trapped in Nigeria, even though the stock market valuation levels are very low and offer the prospect of rising capital appreciation. The profitability of bonds is lower than the level of inflation, and it is difficult to repatriate invested capital, due to restrictions imposed on money transfer operations by the Central Bank.

Source Ecofin Agency