Regional financial Integration in Africa

This book looks at contemporary issues facing financial markets in Southern Africa. It has been established that African stock markets are confronted with a multitude of problems which include inadequate liquidity, low capitalisation, few market participants, a small number of listed companies and low trading volumes. As a result, their broader economic impact has so far been limited. The Southern Africa Development Community ('SADC') stock markets, with the exception of South Africa, are small both in terms of the number of listed companies and market capitalisation, and they display considerable illiquidity. In general, the SADC region has shallow and underdeveloped financial markets. Their development has been hampered by a number of factors which include; political and economic uncertainty, fiscal dominance, weak judicial institutions, limited investment opportunities in the private sector, technological constraints, and the shortage of skilled personnel with expertise in banking and finance.