Swala Oil and Gas Tanzania lists on the Dar es Salaam stock exchange

Swala Oil & Gas (Tanzania) Plc has listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange becoming the first public owned Oil and Gas Company in East Africa.

The company is the 20th to list on the DSE and the 2nd to list under the Enterprise Growth Market an equity market specifically intended for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups.

The company listed on the EGM with 99 million shares after a very successful Initial Public Offer which raised 6,650,000,000 Billion TZS (approx. USD $4 million) and that was oversubscribed by nearly 4 million shares.

The high demand saw Swala raise nearly 2 billion TZS (approx USD $1.2 million)  more than the maximum subscription of 4.8 billion TZS (approx. USD $2.89 million).

The listing took place at the DSE offices and was graced by His Excellency the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Ali Hassan Mwinyi who rang the bell at 10:30 am EAT to officiate the event, the traditional symbol signifying the opening of Swala’s first trading day.

Former President Mwinyi asserted that Swala’s oversubscription shows a great investment appetite amongst Tanzanians in investing in their country’s economy and a growing confidence in the national Stock Exchange.

“In October of 2013, the DSE introduced the EGM segment at the Exchange whose main objective is to enable Small and Medium Sized business access to the capital market. Swala is the second company to list on EGM within a year of its launching. Listing on DSE comes with transparency, good corporate practices and proper disclosures. Swala has made the right decision to join the family of companies aiming at being open and transparent to their shareholders, the public and the world at large,” added CEO of the DSE Moremi Marwa.

Chairman of Swala Tanzania, Mr. Ernest Massawe termed the event as a new chapter for the company and which will enable it achieve its ambitions as a successful venture based on private and public partnership.

“The company is now ready to commence its 2014 seismic programme and we look forward to fruitful results. I am confident that Swala, as a public company, will be able to capitalize on its achievements to date and continue to deliver for all its stakeholders”.

Swala Oil and Gas Tanzania has interest in two blocks namely the Pangani block in the North of the country and the Kilosa-Kilombero license located on the East African Rift System (EARS).