Developing a 10-year capital markets development master plan for Zambia

Capital markets play an important role in modern, globalised markets, acting as a channel between the suppliers of long-term finance and those who require it. As such, they play a crucial role in facilitating the financing of the real economy. To achieve this, however, they must operate in a transparent, trustworthy and efficient way.

Against this backdrop, Genesis and Bourse Consult jointly partnered with FSD Africa to develop a 10-year capital markets development master plan for Zambia.

The team conducted a thorough regulatory review as it pertained to the Zambian capital markets to identify how well the current regulatory framework covered the needs of the capital markets. In addition, the team carried out an international benchmarking exercise to compare Zambia with a sample of peer countries and to identify concerns in the market.

Furthermore, the team carried out extensive stakeholder interviews (spanning regulators, policymakers, infrastructure providers, market participants) to ensure that their views were incorporated in the assessment, leading to a consultative approach to drafting the plan. These findings were combined with a market assessment report that was shared with the broader market.

Following the adoption of the market assessment report, the resulting recommendations were presented and discussed at an in-country workshop to ensure stakeholder buy-in.

Following this, the team developed an implementation roadmap to guide the implementation of the recommendations. This roadmap included levels of priority, timelines, implementing partners, key actions and key performance indicators. In addition, the team developed overarching targets for the market to meet over three-year, six-year and 10-year horizons.

The implementation plan was submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zambia and is pending adoption subject to further discussions with the country’s Ministry of Finance.