Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Nicolas Berggruen, and Jendayi Frazer announced the launch of the East Africa Exchange at a press confference in Davos on January 23.

Berggruen Holdings and the Nicolas Berggruen Institute have partnered with prominent Nigerian investment firm Heirs Holdings, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, and strategic advising and investment company Jendayi Frazer 50 Ventures to form Africa Exchange Holdings (AFEX). AFEX will focus on supporting capital market development by transforming existing commodity and stock exchanges and establishing new entities with the aim of uplifting the African economy.

Through this process, AFEX aims to add value to the agricultural market and create dynamic new opportunities for businesses to raise capital.

In order to maximize the effectiveness of its approach, AFEX believes it is important to develop the agricultural and other commodity, equity, and energy markets together, while also supporting ancillary infrastructure such as the warehouse receipts system. In order to achieve economies of scale, this vertical growth should be accompanied by horizontal expansion in the form of a constantly growing local, regional, and eventually pan-African network of exchanges. A pan-African exchange network will benefit all African nations by allowing for the efficient movement of capital across the continent and successful competition on the international stage.