The Mozambican Stock Exchange (BVM) wants multinational enterprises (MNEs) exploring hydrocarbons in the country listed on the stock exchange, the chairman of the board of directors of the institution told Lusa.

“This is a challenge: we want to make sure that the big companies of the mineral and energy complex can come into the stock exchange,” said Salim Valá.

Under the Public Private Partnerships Act of 2011, large companies are obliged to disperse, preferably to Mozambican citizens, between 5 to 20 percent of their capital through the BVM five years after the start of exploration.

“This challenge cannot be achieved in a coercive way,” Valá said, noting that companies that float their capital through the stock exchange have the advantage of creating local ownership.

In addition to the challenge of bringing multinationals to BVM, Salim Valá said that the goal was to have small and medium-sized companies also listed on the stock exchange.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises account for 98 percent of the economic landscape in Mozambique and cannot be left out,” Valá added, noting that listing would enable them to access financing.

Currently, BVM has six listed companies, namely, Cervejas de Moçambique (CDM), Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (Emose), CETA Engenharia e Construções and Matadouro Industrial (Matamo).

In 2017, according to its annual report, the BVM had market capitalisation of 72.916 million meticais (ERU1 billion), with a transaction value of 5,608 million meticais (EUR 79.8 million).

The Mozambique Stock Exchange was created in 1998.

Source: Lusa / COM