The Banque de la République du Burundi partners with London Stock Exchange Group to implement digital market solutions, signalling a significant move towards modernising the country's financial sector amid regional and international support.

The Banque de la République du Burundi (BRB) has chosen the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to provide a comprehensive set of market infrastructure solutions, which marks a significant milestone in the ongoing effort to modernize Burundi’s financial system. This partnership is designed to move the country’s market operations away from manual, paper-based procedures towards a fully automated and digital framework. The goal? To boost transparency, improve operational flow, and bolster resilience. Edouard Normand Bigendako, the governor of BRB, called the project transformative, emphasizing its role in creating a more inclusive financial environment that can support sustainable, long-term growth.

LSEG is set to roll out an array of integrated platforms built to automate crucial elements of Burundi’s domestic market infrastructure. These include an FX Trading Platform for foreign exchange transactions, a Money Market Trading system aimed at managing interbank liquidity, Auctions to support open market operations, and Market Tracker, which will provide real-time surveillance and automated reporting. The entire setup will run through the LSEG Workspace, a secure and globally standardized system, giving both the central bank and authorized financial institutions better visibility and more efficient operations—honestly, this seems like a pretty smart move.

This initiative fits closely with international efforts to strengthen Burundi’s financial and public sector management systems. Just recently, the World Bank approved an additional $42 million in funding to help Burundi improve its Public Financial Management (PFM), with the aim of replacing manual systems with digital tools. This is part of the government’s broader National Development Plan 2018–2027, which aims to improve how resources are mobilized and public expenditures are controlled. Basically, these reforms aim to strengthen governance and support sustainable development. The partnership between BRB and LSEG can be seen as a complement to that, helping to modernize financial markets while the government pushes forward with wider public sector reforms.

Furthermore, the African Development Bank (AfDB) continues to play a key role in Burundi’s development. They have a portfolio of 17 public sector projects and one financial sector operation valued at roughly UA343.4 million. These investments cover infrastructure sectors such as energy and transportation—areas that are absolutely vital for boosting regional integration and economic resilience. The focus on inclusive growth and improving public sector efficiency aligns well with what BRB is doing with its financial infrastructure upgrade. It’s like these various efforts are all part of a big-picture strategy to energize Burundi’s economy from multiple angles.

LSEG’s push into African markets shows a clear pattern of partnerships geared toward upgrading financial infrastructure in emerging markets. For example, in March 2024, they teamed up with the Central Bank of Mauritania to improve its market trading procedures and infrastructure, with support from the African Development Bank. That project enhanced foreign exchange operations and increased market transparency, aligning Mauritania more closely with international standards. These examples showcase LSEG’s knack for delivering tailored, tech-based platforms that help central banks and other financial institutions improve market efficiency and oversight. It’s truly interesting to see how such initiatives are consistently evolving.

In addition to their infrastructure projects, LSEG is actively boosting its data and analytics capabilities alongside major banks and tech firms. For instance, a multi-year partnership with UBS Group AG aims to improve UBS’s data systems and governance, which translates into smoother operations across multiple asset classes. Plus, LSEG’s strategic alliance with Microsoft, including Microsoft’s recent 4% equity stake buy-in, has enabled the migration of LSEG’s data infrastructure to Azure cloud services. This move is meant to make LSEG’s analytics workflows more compatible with Microsoft’s tools and drive innovation in digital market infrastructure using cloud technology. Honestly, it’s like they’re covering all bases.

These collaborations reflect LSEG’s broader goal of embedding advanced technological solutions into financial market infrastructure—something that’s more and more essential as digital transformation accelerates worldwide. For Burundi, adopting LSEG’s comprehensive market solutions doesn’t just mean a more modern financial landscape; it also puts the country on a much better footing to engage with global markets more effectively. Supporting economic growth and stability in a region that hasn’t seen the same level of development everywhere—that’s pretty significant, don’t you think?


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Source: Noah Wire Services

Verification / Sources

  • https://fxnewsgroup.com/forex-news/exchanges/lseg-selected-by-brb-to-deliver-comprehensive-suite-of-market-solutions/ - Please view link - unable to able to access data
  • https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/01/11/burundi-afe-receives-a-boost-to-continue-strengthening-public-financial-management - In January 2024, the World Bank approved an additional $42 million in financing to support Burundi's efforts in enhancing Public Financial Management (PFM). This funding aims to replace manual systems with digital solutions, aligning with the government's National Development Plan 2018-2027, which focuses on improving resource mobilization and public expenditure management. The initiative is expected to bolster the government's capacity to manage resources more effectively and deliver public services digitally, thereby strengthening governance and fostering sustainable development.
  • https://african.business/2024/11/economy/infrastructure-at-heart-of-african-development-banks-burundi-support - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has been instrumental in supporting Burundi's development, focusing on sectors such as energy, transport infrastructure, and agriculture. As of November 2024, the AfDB's active portfolio in Burundi included 17 public sector projects and one financial sector operation, amounting to approximately UA343.4 million. The bank's initiatives aim to strengthen resilience, promote inclusive growth, and enhance public sector efficiency, with a significant emphasis on infrastructure development to facilitate regional connectivity and address the country's electricity deficit.
  • https://www.centralbanking.com/awards/7960988/financial-market-infrastructure-services-lseg - In March 2024, the Central Bank of Mauritania partnered with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to modernize its financial infrastructure. This collaboration, supported by a $532,980 loan from the African Development Bank, involved upgrading primary and secondary market trading workflows and infrastructure, including foreign exchange operations. The initiative aimed to enhance market capabilities, improve transparency, and integrate Mauritania's financial system into the global market, benefiting both the central bank and commercial banks through electronic operations and efficient resource allocation.
  • https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2025/07/246570-london-stock-exchange-group-lseg-continues-to-enhance-financial-market-infrastructure/ - In July 2025, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) announced a multi-year partnership with UBS Group AG to bolster UBS's data and analytics capabilities. This collaboration enables UBS to adopt LSEG's suite of data and analytics solutions across multiple asset classes and business franchises. The partnership aims to support UBS's growth objectives by consolidating its data infrastructure, enhancing data cataloguing, and streamlining governance and access, thereby unlocking cost efficiencies and operational improvements to better serve clients.
  • https://www.banking-gateway.com/news/microsoft-long-term-partnership-with-lseg/ - In a strategic move, Microsoft entered into a long-term partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in 2024, acquiring a 4% equity stake in LSEG. Under this partnership, LSEG migrated its data platform and other critical technology infrastructure to Microsoft's Azure cloud environment. The collaboration aimed to advance LSEG's data and analytics workflow solutions, making them interoperable with Microsoft applications, and to explore the development of digital market infrastructure based on cloud technology, introducing new cloud-based analytics services.
  • https://www.lombardodier.com/insights/2025/july/rebuilding-banking-infrastructure.html - In July 2025, Lombard Odier, in partnership with MongoDB, modernized its banking infrastructure by integrating AI into the process. This collaboration automated elements of code generation and integration testing, enabling Lombard Odier to complete the migration to MongoDB Atlas 90% faster and at one-tenth the cost of traditional cloud-to-cloud legacy migrations. The modernization allowed developers to focus on creating customer-centric solutions by automating repetitive tasks and reducing the time needed to run application test cases from over 80 hours to just five minutes.

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first emerged. We've since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score: 10

Notes: The narrative is fresh, with no prior publications found. The earliest known publication date is September 10, 2025. The content appears original, with no evidence of recycling or republishing across low-quality sites. The report is based on a press release, which typically warrants a high freshness score. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were identified. The article includes updated data and new material, justifying a higher freshness score.

Quotes check

Score: 10

Notes: The direct quotes from Edouard Normand Bigendako and Nadim Najjar are unique to this report, with no earlier matches found. This suggests potentially original or exclusive content.

Source reliability

Score: 6

Notes: The narrative originates from FX News Group, a niche financial news outlet. While it provides detailed information, its credibility is uncertain due to limited verifiability. The Banque de la République du Burundi (BRB) and LSEG are reputable organisations, lending some credibility to the report.

Plausability check

Score: 8

Notes: The claims about BRB's partnership with LSEG align with known efforts to modernise financial infrastructures in emerging markets. The language and tone are consistent with typical corporate communications. However, the lack of coverage from other reputable outlets and the report's origin from a less-known source raise some concerns.

Overall assessment

Veredict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): OPEN

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM

Summary: The report presents fresh and potentially original content, with direct quotes unique to this publication. While the partnership between BRB and LSEG is plausible, the narrative's origin from a less-known source and the absence of corroboration from other reputable outlets warrant further scrutiny.