Moroccan stock exchange expects up to 5 IPOs annually

Morocco’s stock exchange is on a charm offensive in London to promote initial public offerings and expose merits of listing for companies that seek to boost liquidity.

Speaking to Reuters, head of Morocco’s stock exchange Tarik Senhaji said he expects the bourse to attract 3 to 5 IPOs annually.

The reform of state-run enterprises would be conducive for many to list minority stake at the bourse without losing majority control, he said.

The bourse also looks with optimism to the upcoming launch of new financial instruments such as ETFs and derivatives that would channel more funds into the stock market, he said.

The stock market has a market capitalization of about 62 billion dollars with a daily average trading volume of 21 billion dollars, one of the highest on the African continent.

The few listings that took place in the last decade were all over-subscribed.

The latest listing in Casablanca’s stock market was by CFG bank, which was oversubscribed by an impressive 25 to 30 times, drawing interest from an estimated 20,000 investors

The bourse growth has long been undermined by fewer IPOs in recent years. Morocco’s new development model aims at increasing the stock exchange market capitalization from 50 to 70% of GDP by 2035.

It also aims to increase the number of listed companies to 300 and attract more foreign investors to represent 25% of all transactions.