SSA economy remains weak
In 2021, Sub–Saharan Africa’s (SSA) macro outlook will be shaped by three themes: FX policy; a sluggish services sector and a fiscal overhang, according to Renaissance Capital.
In 2021, Sub–Saharan Africa’s (SSA) macro outlook will be shaped by three themes: FX policy; a sluggish services sector and a fiscal overhang, according to Renaissance Capital.
The African Development Bank has announced the addition of two new countries - Mauritius and Morocco - to its Bloomberg African Bond Indices (ABABI), marking a steady progress in the Bank’s efforts to deepen the continent’s local currency bond market.
Centum Real Estate, a subsidiary of the NSE-listed Centum Investment Company, has opened a KES4bn project bond issue to finance its ongoing housing projects.
Old Mutual, a Pan-African financial services Group, has concluded a successful bond issuance, raising R2bn and attracting new investors in the process.
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) has invested XOF 8.3bn ($15m) in a local currency capital market bond issue by Senegal’s Port Autonome de Dakar (PAD), the owner of the Port of Dakar.
Sanlam Investments has partnered with international asset manager and pioneer in sustainable investing, Robeco, to enhance and cement their commitment to sustainable investment practices and, in turn, revitalise their purpose and create fresh impact.
In South Africa, March and April were volatile months for fixed income investors, but the market has been relatively stable since, Lyle Sankar, fund manager at PSG Asset Management, has said.
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) has acted as an anchor investor in a bond issued in London on June 8, 2020 by HTA Group (HT), a whole owned subsidiary of Helios Towers.
Nasdaq has added two of the world’s largest issuers of social bonds to Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Network, a global and publicly available platform designed to improve transparency in the market for green, social and sustainability bonds.
Investment into the Tanzanian treasury bond sector offers a compelling opportunity and the backing of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania for the Treasury Bonds further provides a high level of risk mitigation, according to Jim Coleman, CEO of de Carnys Capital.
MERJ Exchange, the national stock exchange of the Seychelles, expanded by 325% in the past year to $1.2bn, according to the World Federation of Exchange’s latest data.
The Covid pandemic and volatile markets are causing various investors and asset owners to review their portfolios, according to Zack Bezuidenhout, Head of client coverage for S&P Dow Jones Indices SA and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, has launched a $6.5bn fast-track facility to support private sector investors and lenders tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries.
Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been significantly impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak and is forecast to fall sharply from 2.4% in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1% in 2020, the first recession in the region over the past 25 years, according to the latest Africa’s Pulse, the World Bank’s economic update for the region.