Businesses on the Angolan Debt and Stock Exchange (BODIVA) are essentially public securities, at a time when the amount held in custody grew by more than 50% until December 2023
Bond and corporate debt transactions represent 5% of the total traded at BODIVA in the period from 2022 to December of the current year, as Raúl Diniz and Nivaldo Matias, staff at that institution, made known to OPAÍS. On the other hand, corporate shares represent 0.2% of the total 6.9 billion kwanzas traded on BODIVA in the period in question.
The rest, according to the data, refer to businesses related to public debt securities, namely treasury bills and bonds, with greater emphasis on non-indexed securities, which are the most traded. Of the more than 4,600 trades carried out in the period in question, 94.8% were transactions linked to treasury bonds.
The numbers show that our stock exchange is almost only transactions in public debt securities, that is, apart from exceptions, only the State is financed through BODIVA. It draws attention to the fact that investors prefer government bonds, whether for security or a lack of culture. Raúl Diniz, from the negotiation department, explained that it is a reality that is not desirable, but is common in markets like ours.
“Issues such as security, since the State is one of the most credible and therefore safe issuers that exists, associated with poor financial literacy and even a low culture of buying and selling, lead to this”, he explained. The person in charge went further, and in order to explain the scenario of the national stock market, he explained to OPAÍS that in the field of private initiatives, things are going perfectly in the primary market, but then in the secondary market there is not as much movement, nor with – not even for sale.
But it’s not all bad things since, despite all the obstacles, we continue to have a market with a large margin for growth. As an example, we have the amount in custody which stood at 8.4 billion kwanzas in December of the current year, registering a growth of more than 50% compared to the previous period. Conversely, custody accounts, those that function like bank accounts but are used for investing in the stock market, fell 53%, remaining at just over 30 thousand accounts.
It should be noted that the reduction arises from the “cleaning” carried out by BODIVA itself, which resulted in the elimination of inactive and/or duplicate accounts. A movement that, as explained, also helps to reduce costs for the investor, as custody accounts have an associated cost.
Spot commodity exchange
The Angolan Debt and Stock Exchange is preparing the opening of the Commodities Exchange, and is in the study phase for its implementation. The commitment is such that, during the current year, BODIVA staff traveled to Ethiopia, in order to see “in situ” how a scholarship of this kind works in practice.
According to Nivaldo Matias, the implementation of the commodities exchange aims to bring greater liquidity to the productive sector, and can be structured as a good investment alternative for any player. This advance will also help BODIVA to position itself closer to the objective of contributing to the effective diversification of the economy, an objective that, as Nivaldo Matias said, is at the genesis of the creation of BODIVA.
BY: Ladislau Francisco
