At the 24th annual conference of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) under the theme ''Financial markets, a key driver of African emergence'', African stock exchanges call for an incentive framework for IPO (IPO) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

SMEs are still very little financed through the capital markets. Recently meeting in conclave, the continent's stock exchanges called on governments to cooperate in order to foster an environment that encourages small and medium-sized companies to join the financial centers. "Africa is an SME market par excellence for which it will be necessary to adapt the offers in order to encourage their financing by the African stock exchanges", declared Edoh Kossi Amenounve, director general of the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) and president of ASEA.

SMEs indeed constitute the overwhelming majority of the African economic fabric, but remain the least present in financial markets. Of the 2,400 companies listed on the 26 stock exchanges brought together within ASEA, few of them are SMEs and the various campaigns conducted to encourage them to carry out IPOs have had relative success over time. . Among the obstacles to recourse to the financial markets by SMEs: the lack of financial education, the culture of financial discretion which opposes the principle of financial communication which must comply with any company wishing to finance itself through the capital market. ...