Bralirwa shares surged by 72 percent in their public trading debut on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) following an oversubscription during the Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The share sale of 25 percent of government’s holding in Bralirwa last year kick started Rwanda’s privatisation programme through Initial Public Offerings (IPO). The beer-maker, which is the largest in Rwanda, is the first local company to go public.

Its shares hit a high during trading of Rwf220 per share, up 61.8 percent from the issue price of Rwf136 before closing at Rwf235, a total gain of 72 percent.

"This is a good response from investors,” Celestine Rwabukumba, who is currently in charge of the operations of the RSE, which was launched yesterday, told Business Times.

However, there were more offers compared to the number of bids, which reflected that supply outpaced demand.
"We have more offers. It just seems like stockbrokers are trying to read each other.”

Rwabukumba said that at the close of business 4,241,700 Bralirwa shares were on offer at prices of Rwf220 and Rwf275 while 101,800 shares were on bid at prices of Rwf140 and Rwf180 and no buyers.

The Bralirwa IPO was subscribed at a rate of 274 percent, which translated into an over subscription of 174 percent. Government had planned to raise Rwf17.5 billion ($29.5m) from the sale of 128,570,000 shares but generated $80m.
Industry experts said that the high response to the firm’s offer sets pace for future share sales by government and private companies. Government is set to shed stakes in a host of companies in the near future in a move that is expected to facilitate the diversification of the economy from its dependence on traditional sectors that have fuelled the economic growth for the past decade.

The RSE becomes the fourth stock exchange in the East African Community (EAC), joining the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).

"To realise its full potential, our country must have a world class stock market that is strong, sustainable, well-functioning, plays a central role in the economic development of our nation...,” said Dr. James Ndahiro, the chairman of the capital market advisory council, the institution responsible for development of capital markets in the country.

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