Seven months after the launch of its Common Debt Securitization Fund (FCTC) of 40 billion FCFA (about 60 million dollars), NSIA Bank listed it on the UEMOA Regional Securities Exchange (BVRM). A “historic” operation that aims to expand financing channels for SMEs.

The NSIA Group's Common Debt Securitization Fund (FCTC) is now listed on the UEMOA Regional Securities Exchange (BVRM), the financial group announced on Friday, September 18. With a nominal value of 10,000 CFA francs, a maturity of five years and an annual rate of return of 7%, these bonds have been subscribed to in the amount of 41.3 billion CFA francs for the expected 40 billion francs. A first welcomed by the Director General of the BVRM, Edoh Kossi Amenounve, which he described as “historic”. “I encourage other players in our market,” he said, “to follow suit [at the NSIA Group] by launching innovative financial products to increase the mobilization of the resources needed to better finance our economies.” Expanding financing channels for SMEs NSIA is indeed a pioneer in the securitization of loans within UMEOA with this fund launched in February 2020. The fruit of a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) -the private sector arm of the World Bank- as a reference investor, the FCTC aims not only to increase the financing capacity of NSIA Banque CI, but also to respond to the strong financing demands of SMEs. “In this difficult period marked by COVID-19, we are convinced that our economies need more than ever to mobilize all available resources if we want to meet the financing needs of our businesses,” said Olivier Buyoya, IFC Regional Representative for Côte d'Ivoire, stressing that IFC's participation is part of the World Bank's J-CAP initiative for the die development of local capital markets. “Deepening the regional financial market” Beyond that, “The introduction of the FCTC NSIA Banque 7% 2020-2025 stock to the BRVM offers investors a new opportunity to acquire securities and will thus contribute to deepening our financial market”, believes Léonce Yacé, CEO of NSIA Banque CI. As a reminder, the BVRM has a global market capitalization of 9 336 billion CFA francs, or 12% of UEMOA's GDP. The equity market mobilizes more than 4 billion FCFA in capitalization consisting of 46 companies, 76% of which come from Côte d'Ivoire, while the rest comes from Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Mali and Niger. The bond market, for its part, has more than 5 billion CFA francs in market capitalization consisting of sovereign bonds, loans from regional organizations, private sector loans and sukuks, to which securitized loans are now added. While the UEMOA regulation has allowed the securitization of loans since 2010, it was only 10 years later that a bank started doing it for the first time. In an interview with La Tribune Afrique on the occasion, Léonce Yacé explained this by the need for the banking sector to master the financial technique specific to this type of operation and to adapt to the defined legal regulatory framework. “It is then up to any interested actor [...] to identify the advantages and possibly the limitations, to find equipped and competent teams internally to be able to put in place the mechanisms necessary to carry out securitization operations