Swala Oil and Gas (Tanzania) Plc Debut on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange

The first public owned Oil and Gas Company in East Africa
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, August 12, 2014/ -- Swala Oil & Gas (Tanzania) Plc (“Swala” or “the Company”) today listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (“DSE”) 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 (“EGM”), 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. This IPO was oversubscribed by nearly 4 million shares and has raised nearly 2 billion TZS more than the maximum subscription of 4.8 billion TZS.

The momentous event 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.

(His Excellency the former president of the United Republic of Tanzania, Alhaji Ali Hassan Mwinyi, rings the bell officiating the first trading day of Swala Oil & Gas Tanzania Plc on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). With him Swala CEO, Mr. David Mestres Ridge (L) and Swala Chairman, Mr. Ernest Massawe (R)

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.

Mr. Moremi Marwa, CEO of the DSE remarked, “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”.

Chairman of Swala, Mr. Ernest Massawe further added, “Today’s listing on the EGM marks a new chapter for our company and another step forward in realizing our ambition to achieve a successful venture based on private and public partnership. We wish to extend our thanks to all those who have made this possible: the regulators, our advisors and, most importantly, our new investors. 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”.