Lusaka stock exchange may list shares

Lusaka - Zambia’s stock exchange, which will be 20 years old next year, is considering demutualisation and may offer its shares for sale to the public, Chief Executive Officer Beatrice Nkanza said.

The Lusaka Stock Exchange, or LuSE, based in the capital of Africa’s biggest copper producer, is assembling a team to consider the plan, Nkanza said.

“It is early days yet,” she said by mobile phone.

“This is something that has to take place at some point, we are still looking at how we are going to do this.”

The company is owned by its members and is incorporated as a non–profit company, according to its website.

Upon demutualization, it will also consider selling shares in an initial public offering, Nkanza said.

The process of broadening ownership will probably occur over the next three to five years, she said.

The Johannesburg-based JSE demutualised in 2005, while Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange began the process in the same year.

Demutualization is part of “maturing” as a business, Nkanza said.

The Zambian Agricultural Commodities Exchange is also in the process of demutualising. - Bloomberg News