Africa’s top performing stock exchanges
African stock exchanges provided high returns not long ago, but investors now have to contend with a sell-off in emerging-market stocks. They shouldn’t ignore regional strengths that may offer growth
Emerging markets have had to deal with a major slump after what was a strong start to the year. But exchanges in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt still promise returns more exciting than the JSE. Both 2015 and 2016 were marred by slow growth on the continent, which spooked investors. However, markets were strong in 2017 and started 2018 in an even better position. Last year was a great year for US markets — but many African stock exchanges offered investors returns in dollar terms that were even higher. Six African exchanges outperformed the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which soared 28.2%. Exchanges across the continent last year recorded 28 initial public offerings (IPOs), which raised $2.9bn, and 98 further offerings, which raised $10.6bn, according to a PwC report on African capital markets. The value of indices rose markedly. The biggest gainer in dollars was Malawi’s stock exchange index, which climbed by 56%. Other leading African exchanges included Ghana, up 43.8%; Uganda, up...
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