Update On Financial Market Development Issues In The African Region
Elias Igwebuike Agbo
Department of Accounting and Finance,Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria.
John Onyemaechi Odo
Department of Accounting and Finance,Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria.
Keywords: Financeial market development issues, Economic growth, African countries
Abstract
At present, many financial systems world-wide have improved in soundness, depth and diversity - partly as a result of a series of financial sector and macroeconomic changes Arising from the dwindling foreign capital funds, the governments of some countries have sought to develop their financial markets to provide risk capital for their business sector. Nevertheless, in spite of all the gains derivable from financial market development, the intensity of financial sector reforms implemented in African countries have not generally translated to a reasonable increase in the size and depth of their financial systems. This paper seeks to ascertain the issues responsible for this situation.The study finds that the nature of players in the African financial markets is fragmented while the level of risk associated with the latter is high.Consequently, the investment capacity of institutional investors has remained limited and the financial markets have continued to be small, narrow and illiquid.We suggest that African countries should exercise dexterity in designing macroeconomic policies aimed at addressing the issues preventing them from reaping the full benefits of financial market development.