The Lusaka Securities and Exchange Business Development Manager, Phil Daka has left the bourse after over five years of service.
“Yes I have left the LuSE following the end of my contract which was subsequently not renewed”, said Phil in a telephone interview with the founder of Financial Insight on Wednesday 8th January 2020. He confirmed leaving the LuSE and that his last day was 20th of December 2019.
Capital Markets observers and practitioners know Phil as one of the most passionate Zambians when it came to all matters of alternative finance. He was the visible face of the LuSE in the drive to get people knowledgeable and excited about investment opportunities that capital markets offered.
Phil is an MBA candidate in Leadership and sustainability with University of Cumbria (Robert Kennedy College) Switzerland. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies from the University of Greenwich. His other qualifications include a Degree in Marketing Management from the Chartered Institute of Marketing at Boston City College and a Diploma in Financial Management from Varsity College both in South Africa. His marketing experience was no doubt an attraction to the LuSe management team when they recruited him to be BD manager as the LuSE has been on a mission to package itself with an appealing aura that can woo investors.
But it his work in building financial literacy around Capital Markets that is quite intriguing. Aside from the usual day to day strategy and business development activities at the LuSE, Phil was also involved in educating the Investment Advisors that graduated from the Investment Advisory and Stock Broking Course which is offered at the Zambian College of Pensions & Insurance in collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As if that was not enough, he is also part of the United Nations Development Programme initiative for the issuing of the first Green Bond in Zambia. This is why during the phone call he admitted his love and passion for Capital Markets and saw himself being a player in the same space as he starts his next adventure.
A glance at Phil’s leadership resume shows that he provided expert advisory services in liquidation cases such as KDL versus NAPSA/ZSIC. He was also a member of the SME Development Committee for Private Sector Development Industrialization and Job creation for the Ministry of Commerce. He has also served under the subcommittee of the Alternative financing of Zambia’s 7th National Development Plan. Internationally, he has served under the African Securities Exchanges Associations where he presented a number of papers about Zambia’s Capital Markets.
During his tenure, his role as BD Manager has seen him be a part of two Initial Public Offerings (Madison and now ZAFICCO). IPOs are the “bread and butter” of any Stock Market and he is an advocate for them despite public perception of “lack of Liquidity” being the reason why the frequency of listings was not high. Phil often argued when engaging with Financial Insight that the problem was not liquidity but the mechanics of IPO in Zambia. One had to look at the entire “value chain” and actors to understand where the pitfalls were.
Phil did not disclose to Financial Insight what his next move would be, but he advised we would be the first to know once he put pen to paper on his next adventure. But we have no doubt it will certainly be in the Zambian Capital Market space.