London Stock Exchange Group is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, operating the London Stock Exchange alongside FTSE Russell indices, data and analytics, and clearing and risk services. Its relationship with Africa spans several decades: the first African company to list in London was African Explosives & Industries in the 1930s — today known as AECI and still listed in London — and many African companies have since made the same journey to raise capital in one of the world’s deepest financial markets.

LSEG’s African engagement runs well beyond listings. It convenes the Africa Advisory Group, bringing together business leaders, policymakers and investors from across the continent to discuss how African capital markets can be developed to increase global investment, publishing recommendation-led reports on capital market reform. Its flagship Companies to Inspire Africa research series has spotlighted hundreds of the continent’s fastest-growing private companies — the 2019 edition alone recognised 360 high-performing businesses from 32 countries across services, agriculture and renewable energy — giving African firms global visibility with investors. LSEG runs the FTSE UK Listed Africa Index, designed to facilitate international investment into African companies, many of which are dual-listed in local markets. Its partnership work has included MoUs with African governments and exchanges on dual listings, capital markets roundtables in Nairobi and other financial centres, and support for major African sovereign and corporate debt issuances — in one year alone, $8.5 billion was raised on UK debt capital markets by the governments of Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt. LSEG also hosts the annual market open for The Africa Debate, the UK’s leading platform for high-level engagement on African investment.