TANZANIA has performed well in three areas of financial markets which include access to foreign exchange, macroeconomic opportunity in addition to market transparency, tax and regulatory environment, according to findings of the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index 2021.
Commenting on the report during its official launch in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, the Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, Prof Florens Luoga, said its findings provide an alternative assessment of economies in Africa.
“It is also crucial for deepening the financial inclusion. The central bank will continue to ensure that the macro-economic environment in Tanzania is stable as it has been even during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Prof Luoga.
The other pillars in which the index measured 23 African countries include market depth in which Tanzania slightly missed the score by attaining 45 out of 100. The country did not perform well incapacity of local investors and legality and enforceability of standard financial markets agreements.
Prof Luoga was nevertheless impressed that Tanzania has made significant improvement in the financial markets, noting on the other hand that transformation of the banking sector is very crucial for financial inclusion.
On the same occasion, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning (Economic Management Policies), Mr Lawrence Mafuru, pointed to the fact that financial markets have been intertwined with other sectors of the economy.
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“The country cannot attain development if the financial market is not stable. The government has been very categorical in enabling private capital in the economy,” Mr Mafuru remarked.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA), Mr Nicodemus Mkama, said financing agenda is among key priorities in the financial service industry and the capital markets in particular.
“At CMSA we are creating a conducive regulatory environment for the development of new products and services in capital markets including social impact equities and bonds, green bonds and blue bonds and ethical securities.
“Capital markets facilitate public and private sectors in the mobilization of resources for financing projects towards sustainable economic development,” he explained.
Mr Mkama explained that during the past 12 months, combined trading turnover of both equities and bonds have increased significantly to 3.25tri/- as of January 31, this year, up from 2.65trl/- which was recorded during the same period last year.
On the other hand, the trading turnover of treasury bonds increased to 3.14tri/-, an increase of 49.7 per cent, compared to 2.10trl/- recorded during the previous comparative which ended in January 2021.
The CEO of Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), Mr Moremi Marwa, expressed concerns that pension and sovereign funds worldwide hold about the US 10 trillion dollars but hardly 3 per cent of is channelled to sustainable financing.
The Absa index was produced by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) in association with Absa Group.
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