There is a sharp drop in the growth of account holders on Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) as investors are concerned about the already stressed market whose turnovers have dipped compared with last year.

The new account holder growth, which had stagnated at about 12 in 2012 to 2013, dipped to 4.8 per cent as of December 4 this year.

The woes of RSE have been aggravated by the fact that it has not attracted any Initial Public Offer (IPO) for three straight years.

“The equity market needs more products to attract new investors,” a stockbroker said, adding that the debt market should be bolstered by more corporate bonds.

This was echoed by Lawson Naibo, chief operating officer Bank of Kigali, who believed new investors and old ones are crucial in boosting business on any stockmarket.

He said the slowdown in new accounts could be a sign the market needs a new IPO and that those who sold off securities have not come back to the market. He said investors can only come back through an IPO.

“This year, only 523 accounts have been opened,” revealed Celestin Rwabukumba, chief executive of RSE.

“We have created a competitive stockmarket with both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. Government has played its part; it is now members of Rwanda Stock Exchange to take the market to another level,” said Mr Rwabukumba.

He urged brokerage firms to step up campaigns to market their services and the few products on the market.

The market has nine registered brokerage firms but Isaac Mutebi, country manager of Mbea, a brokerage firm in Kigali, said some of colleagues are reluctant in marketing their services, which is partly responsible for slow growth of new account numbers.