Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange Allowed to Raise Shs. 7.5B for Growth

The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) Plc has been granted permission to raise sh 7.5bn through an initial public offering (IPO) after successfully completing its demutualisation process that allowed the bourse to become a shareholder-owned company.

A share will be sold at sh500 during the IPO which is expected to start soon according to a statement by the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA), without disclosing the specific date. It says 15million ordinary shares of will be listed.

“The IPO and subsequent self-listing of the DSE Plc is the culmination of the demutualisation process approved by the National Demutualisation Committee comprising members from key stakeholders of capital markets in Tanzania including the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Tanzania, Tanzania Stock Brokers Association, DSE Plc and the CMSA,” said the statement

DSE, which has market capitalisation of sh22.4trillion, becomes third to demutualise in Africa after the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

The demutualisation, among other things, entails changing the legal structure of the bourse from a company without shares, limited by guarantee to a company limited by shares.

The bourse has 23 companies listed on the main market segment and the Enterprise growth market

CMSA said successful completion of the IPO and listing are expected to facilitate the DSE to have issued and paid-up share capital; shareholders with actual shareholding in the company; put in place proper corporate governance structure of a public company limited by shares; and raise funds for its growth and expansion by introducing new products and services. The regulator allowed NMB to issue a three-year sh20billion retail bond starting next week. It is also working on the modalities to have infrastructure bind in Tanzania.