Benin’s national lottery operator, Loterie nationale du Bénin (LNB), lost CFAF4.3 billion in stock-market value on Thursday, 5 November 2026, on a session when just 675 of its shares were traded on the West African Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM). The share price fell from CFAF4,000 to CFAF3,785, a 5.38% decline, while those trades totalled CFAF2,684,765, according to the exchange’s official trading bulletin.
The calculation is based on the company’s 20 million shares recorded by the BRVM. At CFAF4,000 each, their combined stock-market value was CFAF80 billion. At the new closing price, it was CFAF75.7 billion. The CFAF215 price drop was applied to the entire share count in the market-capitalisation calculation, even though only a tiny portion of shares changed hands. Trading turnover and changes in market value describe different financial quantities.
The previous day’s trading makes the contrast clearer. On Wednesday, 4 November, 6,114 LNB shares had changed hands for CFAF24.15 million, and the stock had advanced 1.39% to CFAF4,000. By Thursday, the number of shares traded had dropped by nearly 89%, while the price declined by more than five percentage points. The 675 shares traded on Thursday represented approximately 0.0034% of the company’s 20 million shares.
| Session | Shares |
|---|---|
| 4 November | 6,114 |
| 5 November | 675 |
Strong market gains, much narrower trading flows
The same distinction is visible across the regional exchange. Equity market capitalisation declined from CFAF20,724.93 billion at the 4 November close to CFAF20,399.56 billion on 5 November, a CFAF325.37 billion reduction in quoted value. Yet trading in shares and rights rose to CFAF2.17 billion on Thursday from CFAF1.44 billion on Wednesday. Transaction value increased 50.67% in a session when the market’s main index was falling.
The year-to-date figures reveal a different side of the exchange. Despite its 1.57% decline on 5 November, the BRVM Composite index remained up 50.46% since the beginning of 2026. The exchange’s official bulletin put average daily equity trading value for the year at CFAF3.08 billion. That daily flow is measured in billions, while the aggregate market value of listed companies is now measured in tens of thousands of billions of CFA francs.
These figures reflect substantial trading on some counters and much less on others. Equity transaction value increased 50.67% between the two sessions, and the BRVM reported trading in 46 securities out of 48 listed companies. Activity was nevertheless unevenly distributed. The Prestige segment, which contains 12 companies, accounted for CFAF1.512 billion in trading on 5 November, compared with CFAF655 million for the 36 companies in the Principal segment. Prestige therefore represented nearly 70% of equity transaction value that day.
Transaction concentration widens the contrasts
The sector breakdown provides another measure of concentration. Financial services generated CFAF948.60 million in equity transactions on 5 November, followed by telecommunications at CFAF867.58 million. Together, the two sectors accounted for 83.8% of the day’s equity trading value. They include some of the market’s largest companies, while other sectors recorded considerably smaller amounts during the same session.
| Sector | Value traded |
|---|---|
| Financial services | 948.60 |
| Telecommunications | 867.58 |
| Other sectors | 350.56 |
The imbalance extends beyond one trading day. On 20 August, when equity market capitalisation first crossed CFAF20,000 billion, the BRVM reported that financial services, telecommunications and consumer staples together represented 90.06% of listed equity value. Market-capitalisation concentration and trading concentration are different measures, but both figures show the significant weight of a limited number of business sectors on the regional exchange.
The gap is particularly visible among Benin’s listed companies. BIIC Benin recorded 7,500 shares traded for CFAF60.92 million on 5 November, against 2,971 shares and CFAF28.21 million for Bank of Africa Benin. BIIC fell 0.37%, while BOA Benin was unchanged at CFAF9,495. With just 675 shares traded, LNB recorded a much smaller transaction value than either bank, even as its share price experienced a far steeper decline.
Across the exchange’s 48 listed companies, 17 stocks rose on 5 November, 23 fell and six finished unchanged. The BRVM’s bond market meanwhile recorded CFAF23.05 million in transactions against CFAF13,447.43 billion in market capitalisation. Those bond trades came on top of the CFAF2.17 billion exchanged in shares and rights at the same close.