Over 30 companies from the East Africa region will receive training on Investor Relations practices, sponsored by Profit and Loss (P&L) Consulting Company and its international affiliate Instinctif Partners (IP).
The two firms have teamed-up with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), to host an Investor Relations value proposition training forum in Nairobi.
The training will target quoted and non-quoted companies, including entities under the Ibuka program, all of who are in different stages of capital markets maturity.
According to P&L Consulting’s Managing Partner, Mercy Randa, the targeted focus comes at a time when there is heightened appetite and activity in the capital markets space as economies begin to bounce back from the economic strains, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Investors’ appetite is demonstrated by the recent Sh. 2 trillion NSE market capitalization. Given the fundamentals that are driving trades, I believe we can do better since the current gains are being driven by a set of five to seven counters. With a little handholding, more issuers can begin unpacking their narrative in a way that is attractive to investors, both foreign and local. More education will also see more enterprises opting to raise affordable capital on the public market. This is why we are holding this forum,” Randa said.
The in-person complimentary forum will take place on September 24th in Nairobi. The session will cover the value proposition for Investor Relations as a practice and seeks to equip debt and equity issuers with the capabilities to develop broad stakeholder confidence, maintain a competitive edge and navigate an evolving capital markets environment.
“A number of powerful new forces are pushing companies to rethink how they engage with investors. Increasingly, debt and equity issuers are being forced to take more direct control of their Investor Relations programmes to preserve full access to the institutional market and attract international interest, especially as global markets continue to rebound post Covid-19. Now is the time for issuers in the region to invest in their investor relations efforts to clearly position their investment case in a way that resonates with their stakeholders,” says Frédéric Cornet, Managing Partner and Head of Capital Markets, MEA at Instinctif Partners.
The training will provide an overview of Investor Relations as a critical business communications function and highlight principal elements, required to secure a shared advantage between the investors and issuing companies. It will also explore the global trends influencing the capital markets including the changing regulatory landscape.
“This partnership has been months in the making and we are happy to finally find a strong partner with whom we can roll out this knowledge share series. We believe this introductory session, is crucial for companies interested in going public but is equally beneficial to established market participants keen on widening their capital raising opportunities,” says Geoffrey Odundo, Chief Executive at NSE.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
