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Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) and the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) are advancing efforts to strengthen cross-border collaboration, with stakeholders from Nigeria and Kenya exploring ways to improve connections between their capital markets and support broader integration across Africa.
The engagement took place in Nairobi on Tuesday during a high-level investor engagement hosted by the Nairobi Securities Exchange around the Dangote Petroleum Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Speaking at the event, the President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, commended NGX Group Chairman Umaru Kwairanga and Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Temi Popoola for their efforts to advance cooperation among African capital-market institutions.
Dangote backs stronger African exchange connectivity
Dangote said closer collaboration between African exchanges could give companies greater access to capital across multiple markets rather than restricting their capital-market activities to their countries of origin.
He pointed to the planned Dangote refinery project in Mokowe, Lamu, as an example of the opportunities that could emerge from deeper integration between African markets.
According to Dangote, companies with operations spanning multiple African countries should be able to explore listing opportunities across more than one market, potentially widening their access to investors and capital.
The Nairobi engagement follows a strategic meeting convened by NGX Group in Lagos in April, which brought together leaders from major African exchanges to examine cross-border market connectivity and opportunities for closer cooperation across the continent.
NGX seeks a model for wider collaboration
For Popoola, the Nigeria-Kenya engagement forms part of a broader effort to build stronger links between African capital markets rather than being limited to a single transaction.
“When we began this engagement, our objective was continental: to bring African exchanges together and explore how we can create stronger connections between African capital markets,” Popoola said.
“Kenya represents an important first step in translating that ambition into practical collaboration. We see this engagement with the Nairobi Securities Exchange as a model that can be strengthened and potentially replicated across other markets on the continent,” he added.
While the Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO provides a practical context for the discussions, the wider objective is to strengthen institutional relationships between African exchanges and facilitate greater cross-border access to capital-market opportunities.
Greater connectivity could also help issuers and investors navigate multiple African markets more efficiently while supporting the development of deeper capital pools across the continent.
AELP provides wider continental context
The initiative aligns with broader efforts to improve connectivity between African capital markets, including the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP).
The AELP seeks to facilitate cross-border trading and investment among participating African exchanges, providing a framework for investors and market participants to access opportunities beyond their domestic markets.
The Nigeria-Kenya engagement therefore forms part of a wider push to improve cooperation, market access and investment flows across Africa’s fragmented capital-market landscape.
The planned groundbreaking of Dangote’s proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu further highlights the scale of cross-border business activity developing between African markets.
The project is intended to serve the East African market and illustrates how companies operating across national borders can create investment and financing opportunities that extend beyond a single domestic market.
Nairobi Exchange supports deeper market integration
Popoola said NGX Group intends to build on the Kenya engagement and develop a framework that could support wider cooperation among African exchanges.
“We see the work with Kenya as a prototype for how African markets can support greater connectivity among themselves. This is an important step towards facilitating cross-border access to capital-market opportunities, with the potential to scale across West Africa and the wider continent,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Frank Mwiti, also welcomed the engagement and commended NGX Group for facilitating the discussions.
Mwiti said stronger collaboration among African exchanges could deepen relationships between markets, encourage the sharing of expertise and create additional opportunities for investors and issuers across the continent.
The growing engagement between NGX and the Nairobi Securities Exchange comes as African capital markets seek greater integration to support companies operating across multiple jurisdictions. For issuers, stronger exchange links could broaden access to investors, while improved market connectivity could provide investors with more avenues to participate in opportunities across Africa.
The Nigeria-Kenya discussions consequently place cross-border capital access and exchange cooperation at the centre of efforts to build more connected African financial markets.
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