BancABC Botswana Managing Director, Jitto Kurian
BancABC has once again sponsored Central African Stock Exchanges (CASE) Handbook which profiles domestic and foreign companies listed on the Stock Exchanges of Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Now in its 3rd edition, the CASE Handbook was first published in 2012 to create a reference platform for investors and market analysts, and improve the flow of financial information within the region. The Handbook is an aggregated information resource that organises information in the same format between the countries, allowing for easy comparisons.
“As a key player in the regional financial sector, we at BancABC found it only fitting to sponsor this initiative and contribute to the availability of financial information within the region. Data, company news and insightful analysis on markets in the region is very hard to come by, which renders the region unappealing at best, and at worst risky, to potential investors,” said BancABC Botswana Managing Director, Jitto Kurian.
The CASE handbook is a collective of over 130 company synopses from the four stock exchanges, and provides critical financial information on each company such as financial results, top 20 shareholders, as well as analysis of the prevailing business environment in 2013. The Handbook also provides a regional summary and key highlights such as forecasts on the 2014 market activity, and profiles of top companies as well as industries to watch in each market by Aurelius, an independent commentator with experience in all four markets.
The CASE Handbook is the only single source of information on the four stock exchanges, and is published in partnership with Jonathan Waters at New Zanj, publishers of the Central African Stock Exchange Handbook for the past 3 years. With over 12 years post degree experience in the financial reporting industry, Mr Waters has written for such prominent news agencies as AFX News, covering fixed income and equity markets for The Financial Times and Agence France Presse news Agency, among other portfolios.
Making his keynote address at the launch of the Handbook, the Deputy CEO of the Botswana Stock Exchange Thapelo Tsheole, highlighted the need for sufficient information for efficient allocation of financial resources for investments of funds to take place. “ Stock market and investing is not only about money. There is a huge amount of information and data involved which forms the very foundation of allocating money to various investments. The publication of handbooks such as CASE, are very useful in this regard.” he said.
“Through our sponsorship of the 2014 CASE Handbook, therefore, we are doing our part to facilitate cross border investments by providing fresh ways of accessing information on financial markets. This is in testament to our BancABC mantra, ‘Fresh Thinking, Smart Banking’ through which we aim to find relevant and innovative solutions to assist our stakeholders in their respective areas of trade,” added Kurian.
