Stock Exchange of Mauritius
The Stock Exchange of Mauritius Ltd (SEM) was incorporated in Mauritius on March 30, 1989 under the Stock Exchange Act 1988, as a private limited company responsible for the operation and promotion of an efficient and regulated securities market in Mauritius. Since 06 October, 2008, SEM became a public company. Since 1989, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius has come a long way. From the teetering steps of the early days when trading took place once a week for a mere 5 minutes through the open-outcry system, when the settlement cycle of a transaction exceeded two weeks, and when the total value traded during the first six months of operations barely exceeded Rs 15 million, the SEM has today emerged as one of the leading exchanges in Africa and has been at the forefront of the change process in the exchange space on the continent. Back in 1989, the SEM started its operations with the Official Market only with five listed companies atthat time and a market capitalisation of nearly USD 92 million. The size of the market has grown from a market capitalisation to GDP ratio of less than 4% in 1989 to a current market Cap/GDP ratio exceeding 75%, in an economy that has witnessed a 5% average growth rate during the last 25 years.