GBOT to start live exchange in Mauritius from April

The first multi-asset derivatives exchange is going live in Mauritius from April.
The first of its kind of currency and derivatives exchange in this region – Global Board of Trade (GBOT) – plans to offer eight-currency pairs with the dollar as the base – including Kenyan shilling and Ugandan shilling.
Joseph Bosco, deputy managing director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of GBOT thinks that the region, with all its natural resources and huge potentials, is slowly waking up. “The African region is coming out of its troubled past and realizing its real strength,” he said adding that GBOT offers the region a better platform to exploit its natural resources and commodities like sugar and coffee. “Cocoa and coffee from the African region and Mauritius sugar are the world class,” he added.
It also expects to trade futures contracts in zinc, copper, aluminium, nickel, gold, silver and platinum apart from coffee, sugar and maize as well as crude oil and carbon credits.
The exchange will trade in 14 commodities, such as precious metals, base metals and agricultural commodities and eight dollar-based currency pairs - including the Mauritius rupee, euro, yen and sterling.
A good futures market can also control volatility of currency. “We will offer them the required risk management mechanism to hedge themselves against uncertainty,” Bosco added. “The east African countries like Kenya and Uganda can benefit a lot from it.”
The African continent has lately been on the radar of global powers like China and India. “And Mauritius is the gateway for Africa to the rest of the world,” he said. The Indian Ocean island nation offers every facility for an investor and has a democratic framework with a strong judicial system. “Apart from that its tax structure is very much favourable to the investors,” he said adding that the companies based in Mauritius and trading on other parts of the world would get 80 per cent tax rebate. “On top of that the people of Africa trust Mauritius more than any other.”
GBOT's main promoter is India's Financial Technologies (FT) that is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India.
The exchange that has invested around $20 million was looking to add options contracts in due course, apart from international stocks, bonds and IRFs. “But initially, we are looking at $1 billion to $1.5 billion per trading day for each of the two categories of products (commodities and currencies) from second year trade given a limitations in the region,” Bosco said adding that “though it would definitely go up by the time.”