(Business in Cameroon) - Louis Banga-Ntolo, a seasoned Cameroonian financier formerly leading the brokerage department of Société Générale Cameroon, assumed the role of CEO at the Central African Securities Exchange (Bvmac) in October 2021. He took over from Jean Claude Ngbwa, the inaugural CEO of the sub-regional unified exchange based in Douala. His mission is clear: to invigorate this unified financial market, which as of March 27, 2024, had a total market capitalization of XAF461.5 billion, ranking among the lowest in Africa.

In a bid to reverse this trend, Banga-Ntolo is placing his bets on the expected listing of at least ten new state-owned companies on Bvmac. These companies have already been selected by the six CEMAC countries. Anticipating these new introductions, Bvmac had outlined in its 2020 action plan an ambitious goal to exponentially increase its capitalization—XAF1,200 billion in the equity segment, and XAF1,000 billion in the bond segment. To realize these objectives, and after launching the sub-regional exchange’s first stock index (Bvmac All Share Index) to gain international visibility, Banga-Ntolo plans to split the shares, with the aim of making the market more accessible to individuals with lower income.