ASEA WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION - MONDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2015
Deputy Min of Finance, ASEA President, Oscar Onyema, ASEA Exco and members, Ladies
and gentlemen,
Good morning and a warm welcome to the 19th Annual ASEA conference.
Images of our wonderful continent abound, from glorious natural wonders to barren lands; from
poor villages to pulsing mega cities; from regions struggling on a USD a day to world class
financial services environments; From the Economist Cover of Africa Rising to suggestions of
promises yet to be fulfilled. And yet we have much to our credit: relatively good GDP growth, a
youthful demographic, and a good natural resource profile.
Capital markets have a central role in unlocking this potential since well regulated, well regarded
and well run capital markets are the place where the real economy can be funded: where
entrepreneurs can go to raise money to do their bit towards growth, where investors can go trust
their savings.
While Africa’s economic growth is widely acknowledged, less emphasis is given to how we can
sustain recent growth performances
As Africans, we compete with other emerging markets for investment attention and investment
flows. As the macro social and economic environment both globally and locally in our own
countries becomes tougher, so too does that competition for investment attention.
So Africa Evermore is a fitting theme for this year’s conference.
We will get the markets we dare to dream about and we will get the markets we work to create.
I am looking forward to 2 days of open dialogue about the things that matter most as we debate
what to prioritize if we want to be taken seriously as a continent to be reckoned with.
These are not transient questions: they go to the heart of what it means to hold the privilege and
responsibility of leading an exchange.
In closing:
- thank you all for making such an effort to be here
- thank you to the speakers for your preparation and willingness to share your ideas
- thank you to our sponsors for making the event possible
- Thank you to our team for pulling it all together
Let the discussions begin
N NEWTON-KING
.