Seven months after the launch of its 40 billion CFA francs (about $60 million) Common Debt Securitization Fund (FCTC), NSIA Banque listed it on the WAEMU Regional Stock Exchange (BVRM). A "historic" operation that aims to expand the financing channels of SMEs.

The NSIA Group's Mutual Debt Securitization Fund (FCTC) is now listed on the WAEMU Regional Stock Exchange (BVRM), the financial group announced on Friday 18 September. With a nominal value of 10,000 CFA francs, a maturity of five years and an annual rate of return of 7%, these bonds were subscribed to the tune of 41.3 billion CFA francs for 40 billion expected. A first welcomed by the director general of the BVRM, Edoh Kossi Amenounve, which he described as "historic". "I encourage other players in our market," he said, "to follow in [the NSIA Group's] footsteps by launching innovative financial products to increase the mobilization of resources needed for better financing of our economies." Expanding financing channels for NSIA SMEs is indeed a pioneer in the securitization of receivables within the UMEOA with this fund launched in February 2020. The result of a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – the World Bank's arm for the private sector – as a reference investor, the FCTC aims not only to increase NSIA Banque CI's financing capacity, but also to respond to the strong demands for financing from SMEs. "In this difficult time marked by COVID-19, we are convinced that our economies need more than ever to mobilize all available resources if we are to meet the financing needs of our businesses," said Olivier Buyoya, IFC Regional Representative in Côte d'Ivoire, Stressing that IFC's participation is part of the J-CAP initiative of the Global Bank for the Development of Local Capital Markets. "Deepening the regional financial market" Beyond that, "The introduction of the FCTC NSIA Banque 7% 2020-2025 share at the BRVM offers a new opportunity to acquire securities to investors and will thus contribute to deepening our financial market," said Léonce Yacé, CEO of NSIA Bank CI. The BVRM, as a reminder, has a global market capitalization of 9,336 billion CFA francs, or 12% of the WAEMU GDP. The equity market mobilizes more than 4 billion CFA francs in capitalization made up of 46 companies, 76% of which come from Côte d'Ivoire, while the rest comes from Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Mali and Niger. The bond market, meanwhile, makes more than 5 billion CFA francs of market capitalization consisting of sovereign loans, loans from regional organizations, private sector loans and sukuks, to which are now added securitized claims. While the WAEMU regulation has allowed the securitization of receivables since 2010, it is only 10 years later that a bank launches it for the first time. In an interview with La Tribune Afrique on the occasion, Léonce Yacé explained this by the need for the banking sector to master the financial technique specific to this type of operation and to accommodate the defined legal regulatory framework. "It is then up to any interested actor [...] to identify the advantages and possibly the limits, to find equipped and competent teams internally to be able to set up the mechanisms necessary for the realization of securitization operations."