The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) plans for initial public offering (IPO) and self-listing are in the final stages as the bourse anticipates at least five new listings in 2016.

The bourse has already submitted the IPO application to Capital Markets and Securities Authority and it expects to conduct both the IPO and self-listing before the end of the first quarter, according to DSE chief executive officer Moremi Marwa.

He said the bourse expected to have at least five listings of both equities and corporate bonds.

“It’s difficult to tell the exact numbers but we anticipate at least five listings this year. For the case of our self-listing, we are now waiting for approval from the regulator,” said Mr Marwa without telling how much the bourse was looking for.

Plans for the offering follow a change in the formation and name of the exchange from a mutual company limited by guarantee to a public limited company.

Demutualisation of the DSE will strengthen its governance and ensure financial sustainability since it will be in a position to raise capital through rights issue or even bond issuance.

It will be the second bourse in East Africa to begin trading its shares after the Nairobi Securities Exchange did the same late 2014.

DSE, which has a market capitalisation of Tsh20.8 trillion, is targeting a market value equal to 50 per cent of Tanzania’s gross domestic product by 2017.