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Nikada TCHANGUAI, Director of Treasury of Coris Bank International Togo
« Coris Group is one of the largest subscribers to Togo’s operations on the Government Securities Market »
Coris Bank International Togo is a subsidiary of the Coris Group established in the 8 countries making up WAEMU, one of the most active players on the WAEMU Government Securities Market. This is evidenced by its regular participation in various operations on the debt market. Last year, in the context of COVID-19, based on compilations of published results, the Coris Group was the leading investor in the COVID-19 bonds with over 763 billion out of a total of 2003 billion mobilized by the States, i.e. 38.1%.
Coris Bank International Togo, for its part, participates extensively in operations on this market through its interventions on all issues and its presence on secondary market activities.
When you consult the statistics published by UMOA-Titres, which has done a lot of work over the past few years, you realize that by August 31, the stock of debt issued by WAEMU States stood at XOF 10,728.56 billion. This outstanding debt shows the contribution of banks which hold nearly XOF 9 916 billion of this debt, i.e. about 92% of the contribution to the revival WAEMU zone economies.
In the current difficult health context, banks are looking for profitable assets whose risks are under control. As the health crisis has impacted the economic fabric, securities issued by member States are among the assets that meet these criteria. This year, the opportunity is renewed with the Recovery Bonds program associated with a tax exemption in the issuing country. Coris Bank International Togo will continue to seize these opportunities in order to maintain its banking activities and fully play its role in project financing.
It must be recognized that UMOA-Titres also assists in the structuring of debts through instruments it puts in place. We have the examples of the Resilience Support Bonds, the refinancing window at the Central Bank dedicated to these bonds and in collaboration with this Institution, which are highly esteemed by the banking system. These instruments also represent an innovation compared to the practice 2 years ago and a proof of resilience to the crisis.
As regards the development of the secondary market, we have noticed in recent months that we receive summaries of weekly transactions from UMOA-Titres, which allow us to avoid the risks of information asymmetry. On the basis of these weekly publications, a trend is emerging in terms of activity on the secondary market. We hope that UMOA-Titres will go further by defining a system of listing securities on the secondary market in order to fine-tune this segment which is so important for the liquidity of securities and especially for the revitalization of the Government Securities Market.
Coris Group has been recognized as one of the best investors on the Government Securities Market and we intend to remain in this dynamic. In Togo, the country in which we operate, the statistics on Treasury Securities Dealers (TDS) indicate that in 2019, our subsidiary in Burkina was the first TDS of TOGO. We are proud, to accompany the State in which we are established and to do so in collaboration with the other subsidiaries of the Coris Group.
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