The African Securities Exchanges Association has started a project that will link seven bourses on the continent by the first quarter of 2021 as part of efforts to increase trading in securities.

The move would enable brokers on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières in Abidjan, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, the Nairobi Securities Exchange and the Egyptian exchange to place orders for securities on the other trading platforms, association President Karim Hajji said.

“This initiative is supported by the African Development Bank, which has contributed funding of up to $1 million, notably for the system that will help us connect the seven exchanges and also the project management officer who is already on board,” Hajji, who is also chief executive officer of the Moroccan stock exchange, said by phone.

The International Finance Corp. is funding a study of the potential for privatizing state-owned enterprises through partial listings on African stock exchanges, Hajji said. Such listings would boost capital-market development, raise funds for governments and the companies to carry out investment programs and broaden investor participation, he said.

“We want to improve the contribution of capital markets to the growth of the continent and also position African exchanges as the gateway for the development of the continent,” Hajji said.