Snatching up shares in Burkina Faso

When the management of Burkina Faso’s premier telecommunications company decided in December to offer shares for sale to the general public, the timing did not appear especially favourable. The global financial crisis, which was already slowing down the growth of the domestic economy, led a number of local analysts to wonder whether enough people would be willing to put their limited funds into such a new form of investment. But by the time the sale was over at the end of January, the doubts had been swept away as domestic investors sought to buy more shares than were actually available. “We were the first to be surprised by the number of shareholders, by their eagerness,” admitted Alexis Lourgo, head of the financial services company that managed the sale.