Dar es Salaam. When the year 2021 started, a share of the Tanga Cement Company Ltd (TCCL) at its Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) trading counter was selling at Sh500. At the close of the year, the same share was being sold at Sh1,100, more than twice as much in value.
The appreciation in value of the TCCL shares by 120 percent during last year is only one small example of how the wealth of investors in the form of equities virtually swelled in 2021 – thanks to DSE’s sterling performance.
Generally, investors’ wealth is measured by the total market capitalisation of the Stock Exchange, which increased to Sh15.81 trillion in 2021: a rise of five percent – thanks to increases in the prices of the shares of some companies, as well the listing of new shares in the market.
The DSE has 28 listed companies, both local and cross-listed with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The wealth of the 22 local firms was estimated at Sh9.43 trillion at the end of 2021. An analysis by The Citizen indicated that the trading counters of 10 companies contributed to the increase of the wealth, including six domestic company counters.
Apart from the Tanga City-based Tanga Cement investors – whose wealth increased by 120 percent – other counters which improved in their shares trading included the self-listed DSE (whose shares price increased by 47.72 percent, rising to Sh1,300 a share), and the Dar es Salaam-based Twiga Cement, whose shares trading improved by 36 percent, rising to Sh3,400 apiece.
The improved stock prices of the two cement firms started in October last year after Scancem International DA (‘Scancem’) – a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement AG which owns Twiga Cement – announced plans to acquire Tanga Cement.
The National Investment Company Limited (Nicol) also contributed to DSE’s good performance after its shares price surged by 62 percent, rising to Sh300 apiece. Also, the CRDB Bank’s shares price increased by 43.5 percent, to Sh280 each.
The shares of Tanzania Oxygen Ltd (TOL) also gained in value by 3.6 percent, rising to Sh570 per share in 2021.
The cross-listed firms which contributed to the increase in wealth at the DSE (their percentage growth shown here in brackets) were the National Media Group (NMG; 17.4 percent); Jubilee Holdings Limited (7.5 percent), East African Breweries Limited (3.7 percent) and KCB Group (13.5 percent).
Speaking to The Citizen, the DSE chief executive officer, Mr Moremi Marwa, […]