Crown Agents hosted a three-day regional senior debt managers' forum in Uganda, in partnership with the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute for Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI). The Forum, which ran from 8th-10th August 2011 in Entebbe, focused on Developing Domestic Securities Markets in the African region.
The Crown Agents Foundation-sponsored event was well attended by Ministry of Finance and Central Bank senior officials from Angola, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Uganda.
The deputy governor of the Bank of Uganda, Dr Louis Kasakende, officially opened the event and welcomed the collaboration between Crown Agents and MEFMI saying he "looked forward to similar joint efforts in the future for the benefit of countries in the region".
The forum emphasised the actions needed to enable countries in Africa to develop and modernise their financial markets and bridge the gap with countries with more mature securities markets in other regions.
Crown Agents' debt management services to improve the infrastructure of primary and secondary markets and build local capacity will be useful for countries looking to increase domestic resource mobilisation especially at a time when global financial conditions tend to place a premium on international capital.
Crown Agents is participating in the MEFMI Forum on Mobilising Domestic Resources for Financing Growth and Development in Washington in September, further demonstrating the synergies between our two institutions and opportunities for further collaboration to benefit member countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.