MARKET DATA REVIEW: Missed opportunities in empowering our people

For one measure — market capitalisation and stock indices — stock markets across the world have had mixed results for the year just ended, 2015.

There are two major encouraging statements that came to our attention recently, these statements came from the government: (i) the possibility of repossession of previously privatised state owned entities that were sold to some investors; and (ii) state owned entities, agencies and parastatals are now required to refocus on becoming more efficient and raise their financial needs from the local financial market.

>Privatisation is the process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency, public service, or public property from the public sector (a government) to the private sector.

>If an investor had invested similar amount of money across 14 domestic listed companies on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), the annualized capital gain return would have been 4.5 per cent. As the table below indicates – share valuation for some companies have grown up above 30 per cent while a few companies have lost – these are the normal workings of the market.

>This week there is an annual Association of  Stock Exchanges in Africa conference hosted by the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

It is fairly expected that, we as humans in our own ways should always be in the process of creating a good society — a society where citizens are largely satisfied, one where people are happy and thrive in their undertaking. A good society is one that values decency, responsibility, justice, tolerance and where natural human rights are observed.

Recently, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) has been taking specific measures to address some of our specific local needs and challenges – it doesn’t serve better for any of us that after more than 15 years since the operationalization of the stock exchange in our economy, it remains just a superfluous high level concept, neither has it been understood nor efficiently used by our local communities to address some of their long-term capital needs on one side or investment...

Since the enactment of the Capital Markets and Securities (CMS) Act, Cap. 79 of 1994 and the establishment of the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) in 1996, there has been several developments in the Capital markets in Tanzania.

At different phases of our socio-economic development agenda and objective, various policies, strategies and approaches have been chosen, for different purposes, some of the objectives relate to economic inclusiveness and empowerment to local citizens. I want to focus on the privatisation as a tool towards achieving inclusive economic growth.