Botswana remains the continent’s least corrupt country, improving its ranking by three positions to reach 28th place, according to the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International.
Africa is probably the most exciting story of the future when talking about frontier markets, Carlos Hardenberg, Senior Vice President, Director of Frontier Markets Strategies, Templeton Emerging Markets Group, has said.
South African government bonds denominated in US dollars currently yield 2.8% more than US Treasury bonds to compensate investors for well-known South Africa specific risks, according to Mark Dunley-Owen of Allan Gray.
The year began with the continued depreciation of the naira against the dollar and uncertainty around the direction of economic policies, which fueled an already prevalent bearish sentiment in the Nigerian capital market.
Duet Group, a $5.6bn alternative asset manager, has announced the Duet EM Frontier Fund and the Duet MENA Horizon Fund performance for 2015.
The Founder of the South African asset management company, Allan WB Gray, has established a new foundation to hold the family’s controlling interests in the Allan Gray and Orbis groups.
Tumbling commodity prices, indications of a slowdown in Chinese growth and a risk-off sentiment inspired by the first rise in US interest rates since 2006 were among the major themes driving African indices in 2015.
The return of veteran finance minister Pravin Gordhan will help to stabilize markets in South Africa, but the damage will be longer-lasting, according to David Kohl, Chief Currency Strategist and Head Economist Germany at Julius Baer.
The South African Mergence High Impact Debt Fund has received a “Gold 4-Star” rating from the Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS).
South Africa has moved one step closer to a junk bond status after Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s (S&P;) both releasing their sovereign credit rating reviews on the country on Friday, December 4.
The markets in Nigeria and Kenya are creating the building blocks for future growth, especially after a difficult few months in 2015, according to Standard Bank. An increase in capital requirements for the public sector and the need for more sophisticated products by financial institutions have been major drivers of debt capital markets across key regions in Africa. The total size of bonds outstanding in Nigeria, excluding federal government issuance and Eurobonds, stands at approximately $24bn, (N4.8trn), with financial institutions as the main issuers of bonds among the country’s corporate institutions.
Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly sensitive to the combination of weak commodity prices and rising US interest rates, Tom Elliott, deVere Group’s International Investment Strategist, has warned.
Dual currency funding structures can bring stability and robustness to real estate deals in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Adeniyi Adeleye, Head of Real Estate Finance for West Africa at Stanbic IBTC.
Investec Asset Management and Growthpoint Properties in partnership with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will seek to establish and grow a significant diversified pan-African real estate investment business.
