"We are a unique institution. There is no model for us. We have had to create the model." That was the proud claim of Jean-Paul Gillet, the chief executive of the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (BRVM), Côte d'Ivoire's stock exchange. He was referring to the way the exchange operates region-wide, through its Abidjan hub. Companies are able to list and trade in Abidjan, wherever they are based in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region. Indeed, each of the region's eight countries has an ownership stake in the BVRM of some 13.4%.
The recent birth of the exchange (in 1998), means that it has been able to acquire both new technology and the latest rules of trading. For example, trading on the BVRM is computerised with satellite links, which allow brokers to transmit orders from any of the member countries to the central site in Abidjan, to check and interact with the order book and to see information about the market and the central depository.
