Investors in the Minority Shareholders Association of Listed Companies (MSALC) have called out the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to relinquish ownership of the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) market, a move which the shareholders claim will result in better regulation of the local bourse.

According to MSALC General Secretary Frank Harawa, the local stock market is self-regulated on paper, but it is under the Reserve Bank of Malawi which regulates the country’s financial sector. The shareholders have therefore called out the central bank to lose its grip on MSE and let other stakeholders control. “The stock exchange is owned by the government but it could be owned by brokers, banks, insurance companies; these are companies that are already busy on the stock market. Once it comes into private arms, it can also register itself and list on its own bourse.” said Harawa

As of December last year, MSALC has been noting that the local bourse is underperforming, while the bourse itself began 2020 with unpleasant results, registering a decline in traded volumes at 34 million this month, compared to 212 million during the same period last year representing a 83.9% drop.