The East African stock exchanges have established a Securities Industry Training institute (SITI) centre in Kampala that will help train market practitioners in the region.

Olivier Kamanzi, the Deputy Executive Director of Rwanda Capital Markets Advisory Council (CMAC) said that this is an initiative of the regional stock exchanges in an effort to integrate them into one body.

The centre was officially launched yesterday with the election of the governing council where Simon Rutega the Chief Executive Officer of Uganda Securities Exchange was elected as the chairman.

"This centre will help equip participants with the necessary knowledge, hence strengthening the industry,” explained Kamanzi.

The centre also intends to develop Securities’ market professionals who will play a crucial role in enhancing the skills and professionalism of the industry throughout the region.

With the participants receiving certificates, there will be mutual recognition throughout the region and they will have the liberty to practice on the regional market.

The curriculum has been developed under the East African regional integration initiative program under the Efficient Securities Market Institutional Development program (ESMID). The project developed and supported by the International Finance Cooperation (IFC).

Targeted beneficiaries includes the general public interested in the capital market field, financial service providers, market practitioners and managers.

The training will be conducted in respective countries but if need be, the trainers will travel to Kampala, according to Kamanzi.

The East African Community Treaty set out a bold vision for the eventual unification of the region’s capital markets.

And to achieve this vision, East African Stock Exchange Association (EASEA) has focused on a regional strategic initiative that considers setting up a regional securities market by the end of this year.

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