The securities market of the Umoa (West African Monetary Union), where the countries of the sub-region regularly issue bonds to obtain cash, is largely dominated by commercial banks. As buyers, these players represent about 90% of the securities on this market, which weighs about 13600 billion FCFA (including OAT, BAT and syndicated securities). According to an evaluation of the Umoa-titres agency covering the year 2019, for Togo, the number 1 place went to Coris Bank, followed in order, by Bank of Africa, Ecobank, then Orabank, then the Togolese Bank Union (UTB) which closes the select group of the best SVT (specialists in Treasury securities) contributors.

The information comes from a panel of experts discussing the issue, as part of the 3rd edition of the Rencontres du Marché des Titres Publics de la zone UEMOA (REMTP 2021) at the initiative of the Umoa-Titres agency, specialized in the development of public securities within the community space. The work, online, opened yesterday.

Thus, at the end of December 2020, only 8.63% of the securities were held by local investors (Insurance Company, UCITS, Pension Funds etc ...), according to Abdoulaye Karamoko, Senior Portfolio Manager at Enko Capital, exhibitor, the structure of the public securities market and the weight of institutional investors. Of this portion, UCITS (Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities), for example, represent only a little more than a third of the weight of local institutions, with CFAF 720 billion under management at the end of 2020, or barely 5% of the global market.

The representation is even less, when it comes to offshore institutions, which manage only 100 billion FCFA, or 0.75% on this market. These are essentially Offshore Banks and other Brokers, Family Offices, or a few rare Hedge Funds.

For the experts, this under-representation of institutions is explained in particular by a sub-regional regulatory context that would limit the scope of action of certain actors, the structuring of pension systems, which limits interest in financial markets, or a more limited supply from banks and SGI (Companies of 'intermediation).

Moreover, the reflections of this panel of market specialists explore the possibility of market reforms, in order to be able to invite more insurers and pension funds. These last types of players, in particular, make it possible to support longer-term loans (over 10 or 20 years), unlike shorter maturities, as currently observed on the market.

The objective, in the long term, would be to reach a presence of 35% of these institutional actors, in a context marked by economies still very little financialized in the sub-region.