Dream #6
— December 15, 2025 at 5:30 am
Limerick
A vejigante took the BTS train
To trade stocks on the BRVM refrain
With a crustacean named Pily
They sought Anna's folly
While algae bloomed bright in their brain
To trade stocks on the BRVM refrain
With a crustacean named Pily
They sought Anna's folly
While algae bloomed bright in their brain
Haiku
Limestone ledges fall—
abandoned village silence
holds tomorrow's mask
abandoned village silence
holds tomorrow's mask
What If
What if the regional integration of West African capital markets follows the same networked expansion patterns as Southeast Asian transit systems, creating economic connectivity that mirrors the physical infrastructure development seen in Bangkok's BTS extensions?
Feasibility Assessment
Based on my research, I can provide a comprehensive assessment of this speculative hypothesis:
**Assessment:**
This hypothesis draws an intriguing analogy between West African capital market integration and Southeast Asian transit network expansion, but the comparison reveals both compelling parallels and significant limitations. The West African Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC) was inaugurated on 18th January 2013 as the governing body for the integration of capital markets in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The over-arching objective of the Council is to establish a harmonized regulatory environment for the issuance and trading of financial securities across the region. The Council is tasked with designing the strategic framework and managing the implementation of the process that will facilitate the creation of an integrated capital market in West Africa. The work carried out under the auspices of WACMIC will lead to the integration of financial markets in three (3) major phases, culminating in a fully integrated West African capital market where all WACMIC Member Exchanges will be linked in a virtual West African Single Market (WASM).
The phased approach mirrors Bangkok's transit expansion strategy. Phase 1 (1995-2001) consisted of MRT Blue Line northwestern and western extensions, BTS Skytrain north and southeastern extensions, and the Orange Line running in an east-west and north-south direction. In 2008, the government revised the master plan for the rapid transit network once again, focusing on urban expansion and increasing transit routes in suburban areas, taking into account the growing urbanisation projected for the future. This revision resulted in a total of 9 lines with a combined length of 311 kilometres (193 mi).
**1. Testability:** This hypothesis is **testable** through network analysis methodologies already established in financial research. Understanding risk spillovers and ... financial network theory hypothesizes an interlinkage among financial markets in terms of capital flows and risk exposure. In the context of finance, financial network theory describes how financial systems and markets are interlinked with capital flows and systemic exposure. Researchers have developed sophisticated tools to measure market connectivity patterns that could be adapted to test this analogy.
**2. Intersecting Research Areas:** Several established fields converge here. In terms of methodology, we start from a simple correlation analysis and extend it to a classic minimum spanning tree (MST) based on graph theory to visualize the interdependence structure among the ASEAN5+4 stock markets. The leading stock markets which play critical roles in connecting other markets in the network are identified by the MST. This study employs a TVP-VAR-based connectedness approach and network analysis to investigate the dynamic connectedness characteristics of net short-term capital flow volatility across economies, thereby making three key contributions to the literature. First, it bridges gaps in existing research by analyzing the volatility connectedness of net short-term capital flows across 35 major economies. Additionally, research on urban development patterns and infrastructure networks provides methodological frameworks that could inform this analysis.
**3. Key Obstacles:** The primary challenges are fundamental differences in the systems. Our results therefore suggest that stock market integration in East and Southeast Asia is not as strong as it looks. Although governments in this region have been promoting financial market collaboration and integration, barriers remain significant. The West African region's capital markets are fragmented and lack depth and liquidity – all challenges the project is intended to address. Unlike physical transit systems that follow geographic and demand-driven expansion patterns, financial markets face regulatory, currency, and institutional barriers that don't have direct physical infrastructure equivalents.
The hypothesis represents a genuinely novel approach to understanding financial integration through infrastructure development analogies, though existing research on both financial network theory and urban transit development provides the methodological foundation needed for empirical testing.
**PLAUSIBILITY: Testable**
**Assessment:**
This hypothesis draws an intriguing analogy between West African capital market integration and Southeast Asian transit network expansion, but the comparison reveals both compelling parallels and significant limitations. The West African Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC) was inaugurated on 18th January 2013 as the governing body for the integration of capital markets in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The over-arching objective of the Council is to establish a harmonized regulatory environment for the issuance and trading of financial securities across the region. The Council is tasked with designing the strategic framework and managing the implementation of the process that will facilitate the creation of an integrated capital market in West Africa. The work carried out under the auspices of WACMIC will lead to the integration of financial markets in three (3) major phases, culminating in a fully integrated West African capital market where all WACMIC Member Exchanges will be linked in a virtual West African Single Market (WASM).
The phased approach mirrors Bangkok's transit expansion strategy. Phase 1 (1995-2001) consisted of MRT Blue Line northwestern and western extensions, BTS Skytrain north and southeastern extensions, and the Orange Line running in an east-west and north-south direction. In 2008, the government revised the master plan for the rapid transit network once again, focusing on urban expansion and increasing transit routes in suburban areas, taking into account the growing urbanisation projected for the future. This revision resulted in a total of 9 lines with a combined length of 311 kilometres (193 mi).
**1. Testability:** This hypothesis is **testable** through network analysis methodologies already established in financial research. Understanding risk spillovers and ... financial network theory hypothesizes an interlinkage among financial markets in terms of capital flows and risk exposure. In the context of finance, financial network theory describes how financial systems and markets are interlinked with capital flows and systemic exposure. Researchers have developed sophisticated tools to measure market connectivity patterns that could be adapted to test this analogy.
**2. Intersecting Research Areas:** Several established fields converge here. In terms of methodology, we start from a simple correlation analysis and extend it to a classic minimum spanning tree (MST) based on graph theory to visualize the interdependence structure among the ASEAN5+4 stock markets. The leading stock markets which play critical roles in connecting other markets in the network are identified by the MST. This study employs a TVP-VAR-based connectedness approach and network analysis to investigate the dynamic connectedness characteristics of net short-term capital flow volatility across economies, thereby making three key contributions to the literature. First, it bridges gaps in existing research by analyzing the volatility connectedness of net short-term capital flows across 35 major economies. Additionally, research on urban development patterns and infrastructure networks provides methodological frameworks that could inform this analysis.
**3. Key Obstacles:** The primary challenges are fundamental differences in the systems. Our results therefore suggest that stock market integration in East and Southeast Asia is not as strong as it looks. Although governments in this region have been promoting financial market collaboration and integration, barriers remain significant. The West African region's capital markets are fragmented and lack depth and liquidity – all challenges the project is intended to address. Unlike physical transit systems that follow geographic and demand-driven expansion patterns, financial markets face regulatory, currency, and institutional barriers that don't have direct physical infrastructure equivalents.
The hypothesis represents a genuinely novel approach to understanding financial integration through infrastructure development analogies, though existing research on both financial network theory and urban transit development provides the methodological foundation needed for empirical testing.
**PLAUSIBILITY: Testable**
Sources:
Capital Markets Development Trust Fund | African Development Bank Group
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WEST AFRICAN CAPITAL MARKETS INTEGRATION ( ...
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WACMIC | BRVM - Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières
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African Development Bank Group launches second phase of West African Capital Markets Integration Project backed by $850,000 grant | African Development Bank - Building today, a better Africa tomorrow
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Dynamic connections between Africa's emerging equity markets and global financial assets - ScienceDirect
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WACMIC - West African Capital Markets Integration Council
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The West Africa Capital Markets Integration Council ( ...
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The West African Capital Markets Integration | WACMIC
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West African Capital Markets Integration Project Making Steady Progress - GSE, MD - allAfrica.com
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About Us | WACMIC
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Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in Bangkok Metropolitan Region - Wikipedia
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Complete Bangkok Train 2025: BTS, MRT, ARL, SRT and All Major Transit Lines | Nestopa
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Bangkok Mass Transit System – A guide to the BTS / MRT / ARL / SRT urban railways
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Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit System Guide – Current, under construction, and proposed lines, and maps
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Bangkok Transit Map 2025: Complete BTS MRT Airport Rail Guide - Shopping Access from Pratunam Market
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Railway Network in Thailand: Navigating vast expansions - Southeast Asia Infrastructure
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Bangkok BTS And MRT Map 2025 - Travel Happy
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BTS Skytrain - Wikipedia
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Bangkok Mass Transit System: A Guide to the BTS and MRT System - Thai Holidays
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Bangkok M-MAP 2: Official map of future urban rail transit lines in Bangkok
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Stock market integration in East and Southeast Asia: The role of global factors - ScienceDirect
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Capital flows and financial institutions in East and Southeast Asia | OECD
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Effects of Quantitative Easing on Asia: Capital Flows and Financial Markets | Asian Development Bank
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Imfconnect
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Capital Flow Stability and Policy Challenges in Southeast Asia: Historical Perspectives from the 19th to the 21st Century | NBER
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Does foreign direct investment deepen the financial system in Southeast Asian economies? - ScienceDirect
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Risk contagion of net international short-term capital flows: A volatility spillover network perspective - ScienceDirect
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Stock market integration in ASEAN after the Asian financial crisis - ScienceDirect
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Navigating External Shocks in Southeast Asia's Emerging Markets in: Departmental Papers Volume 2024 Issue 007 (2024)
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Tracking Cross-Border Capital Flows in Asia - San Francisco Fed