(Business in Cameroon) - Talking on 4 May during a panel on the theme “initial public offering and value creation, views from public actors”, on the occasion of the last meeting of the Francophone Institute of Financial Regulation (Ifrefi) in Libreville in Gabon, Jean Claude Ngbwa, President of the Financial Markets Commission (CMF) of Cameroon, the regulatory body in the Douala Stock Exchange (DSX), the stock market in Douala, made some revelations, we learned from authorised sources.

The President of CMF annonced in particular that measures are currently underway, within the government, to list six new companies on the Douala stock market, as well as the issuance of bonds by some mix-economy companies, we learned from sources within the Douala Stock Exchange.

For the moment, no official information has been released on the identity of the concerned companies. We can however remember that since April 2016, government sources have announced that, as part of the policy to make the Douala stock market more dynamic, piloted by the Ministry of Finance, the Cameroonian State decided to sell, through a public offering, the shares it directly (through the Société Nationale d’Investissements) or indirectly (through State organisations and other State companies) owns in three companies.

These are the Société Sucrière du Cameroun (Sosucam), subsidiary of the French group Somdiaa; Socatral (production of sheet metal) and Alubassa (production of kitchen utensils), two companies in the Alucam group, the giant in the aluminium sector in Cameroon, still looking for a buyer for the 46% shareholding previously owned by Rio Tinto.

At the Ministry of Finance, four other companies are also mentioned, whose sectors of activity are deemed very attractive, and which have already been made aware of the need to obtain a financial rating to be able to raise capital on financial markets, and put an end to the practice of subsidies from the State which are increasingly expensive for the public Treasury.

A potential of FCfa 4,000 billion in market capitalisation

This is the case for Société Camerounaise des Dépôts Pétroliers (SCDP), the company stocking oil products in Cameroon; Port Autonome de Douala (PAD – Douala Port), in charge of managing the port in the economic capital; Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel), the national telecoms operator; and Cameroon Water Utilities (Camwater), the State company in the drinking water sector, which should take over from 2018 the leasing activity withdrawn from Moroccan Onep.

While waiting for those companies to go through their initial public offering, the President of CMF, during the Libreville meeting, also revealed some measures proposed to the Cameroonian government, to make the Douala stock exchange, which has only three companies listed since the launch of its activities 11 years ago, more dynamic.

According to sources within CMF, the Cameroonian financial market regulatory body suggested to the government to systematise capital increase operations by companies through the stock market; replace subsidies to public companies by fundraising operations on the Douala stock market; force companies started in Cameroon or extending their operating licence to open up by 15% to 25% through public offering.

According to the MD of DSX, Pierre Ekoule Mouangué, 30 to 40 companies operating in Cameroon meet the criteria to raise funds and be listed on this local financial market. By encouraging companies to be listed on the Douala Stock Exchange by 2020, the Douala stock market could reach a market capitalisation of FCfa 3,000 billion in the debt securities (obligations) section.

Brice R. Mbodiam

Lire aussi:

18-03-2015 - Cameroun : en 9 ans d’activités, la DSX n’affiche que 500 milliards FCfa de capitalisation boursière

14-11-2014 - Après Camtel, Camwater, la SCDP et le PAD vont évaluer leur risque de crédit chez Bloomfield