(AfDB) - The African Development Bank and the West African Monetary Union’s Capital Markets Authority (AMF-UMOA) have signed a grant agreement for $750,000 to implement the second phase of the Regional Financial Market Development Support Project (PADMAFIR 2).

PADMAFIR 2 will enable the AMF-UMOA to develop a financial code for the region. It will also promote the deepening of mortgage and securitization markets through capacity building and the overhaul of relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.

The funding will be sourced from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund, a multi-donor fund administered by the African Development Bank. It will support the ongoing modernization of the regulatory framework of the regional financial market in order to enhance its attractiveness, depth and competitiveness.

The Secretary General of the AMF-UMOA Ripert Bossoukpé, said, “This new support reflects the strength of the relationship between the African Development Bank and the Financial Markets Authority. It reinforces the attachment of the two institutions to sharing a common vision of the development of the regional financial market to make it more attractive and secure. This support will make it possible to continue the projects implemented as part of the execution of the first phase of the project, in particular the modernization of markets regulation.”

Ahmed Attout, head of the Capital Markets Development Division at the African Development Bank said, “After having supported the first phase of the Regional Financial Market Development Support Project, we are delighted with this new partnership with the AMF-UMOA, which complements our interventions aimed at supporting the development of the regional financial market and to increase its contribution to the financing of the economies of the WAMU.”

About Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union:

The Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union (AMF-UMOA) formerly the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (CREPMF) is the public regulatory authority that ensures the proper functioning of the market regional finance. It was created on July 3, 1996,  by a Convention signed between the eight countries of the Union: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. Its headquarters are in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The AMF-UMOA is responsible for a general mission of protecting savings invested in transferable securities and in any other investment giving rise to a public offering procedure in all the countries of the Union. (www.amf-umoa.org)

About the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund:

The Capital Markets Development Trust Fund (CMDTF) is a multi-donor fund administered by the African Development Bank and financed by the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Trade and Cooperation. It aims to support the African Development Bank’s efforts to raise resources to develop robust capital markets to finance Africa’s development.