Africa is the proving ground.
East Africa first. Then the continent, with the patience and rigor markets this important deserve.
Build where it compounds.
Capital markets across Africa are young, structurally complex, and under-served by dedicated liquidity. We are structured for a twenty-year horizon, not a two-year expansion slide.
Next horizon.
The market we are moving on
Nigeria · NGX
West Africa’s largest market. NGX Group demutualised in 2021 and operates as a multi-asset venue spanning equities, fixed income, ETFs, and a derivatives segment (launched in April 2022) cleared through NG Clearing. The market-making programme was relaunched under updated SEC rules in October 2021 and is open to additional Trading License Holders across product classes.
Why now
The NGX ETD market is young (index futures listed since April 2022, with single stock futures and stock options on the roadmap). That is the same build-out arc Shabba is engaging in Kenya, on a much larger underlying market. The current MM cohort is small, regional in composition, and the SEC framework has clear entry rules. Active study underway on market structure, fee economics, FX repatriation under post-reform Naira conditions, and what an operationally serious algorithmic provider looks like on the venue.
In research.
Parallel market-structure study
Johannesburg Stock Exchange
Africa's deepest equity and derivatives market. We are studying market structure, fee economics, member access, and how a Shabba presence would fit alongside the existing JSE liquidity ecosystem. No operational claims here. Just the research is underway.
In thinking.
Position-forming, not yet acting
Continental derivatives integration
East, West, and Southern African derivatives venues currently operate as isolated platforms. Cross-venue connectivity, harmonised product specifications, and shared clearing arrangements are the natural next step for an integrated continental market. We expect to be a participant in that conversation.
Exploratory.
Watching, not committing
Digital asset infrastructure
Tokenised representations of African securities, regulated digital asset venues, and the bridge infrastructure between traditional capital markets and on-chain settlement. The space is moving fast in some African jurisdictions and slowly in others. Worth understanding deeply before committing capital to any specific direction.
Patient, not opportunistic.
Pan-African expansion is a long-horizon project, not a sprint. Each market we extend into gets the same operational depth we are building for Tanzania and Kenya: regulatory engagement before launch, ring-fenced operating entities, local partnerships, and infrastructure that genuinely fits the market structure of that jurisdiction. We are not a firm that scales by replication. We are one set of capabilities that adapts to the markets that need them.