The British government is pushing for stronger links between London’s Stock Exchange and capital markets in East Africa.

In Tanzania alone, it hopes to double the number of UK companies doing business in the renewable energy and agriculture sectors by 2015.

In a clear response to growing Chinese influence in Africa, Britain’s Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, who headed a delegation of UK business people to the East African region last week, said that Britain aimed to forge a new partnership between East Africa, leading businesses and the London Stock Exchange Group to boost development in the region.

“The aim of the partnership between DFID and the London Stock Exchange is to build and train a pool of skilled professionals from East Africa to drive the growth of capital markets in the region,” said a DfID press release.

The first stage of the partnership will provide training for 20 financial professionals.

There are currently 35 FTSE (London Stock Exchange) companies operating in Tanzania.

DfID’s involvement includes investing up to $5.28 million (£3.3 million) in equity for Tanzania, which will allow the East African nation to provide finance to small agribusinesses and farmers in need of agricultural equipment. The scheme will initially start in Moshi and Mbeya and extend to the rest of Tanzania.

Antonella Amadei, head of Global Business Development at the London Stock Exchange, said that their training programme “can help to grow and strengthen East African capital markets, enabling companies in the region to raise capital and create jobs — contributing to long-term economic development. Working in partnership with frontier and emerging economies is a vital part of London Stock Exchange Group’s strategy. As the global economy evolves, partnerships like this with frontier and emerging economies are vital to enable the UK to compete on the world stage.”