Emerging Opportunities in Africa Capital Markets and Trade Finance

Emerging Opportunities in Africa Capital Markets and Trade Finance

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa trade finance has been neglected as an asset class, because the yields have been modest relative to African sovereign bond markets and because investors had been attracted to the high beta African investments, like the local currency bonds. The volatility and recent sell-off in EM hard-currency and local-currency bonds in 2018 has changed investors’ appetite significantly. EM fixed income investors are changing their preference towards low beta and…

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Leveraging Digital Technology in African Financial Services

Leveraging Digital Technology in African Financial Services

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Before technology was as accessible as it is today, cash and cards consisted the main ways to access finance on a mass scale. However today, in many of the African economies, most of the population still does not have the ability to open a bank account, due to the lack of the required source of revenue and the challenge with many Africans not having the necessary information to sign…

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Global bond issuance at $2.1 trillion in first four months of 2018

Global bond issuance at $2.1 trillion in first four months of 2018

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – S&P Global Ratings indicated that the global issuance of corporate bonds, U.S. public finance bonds, other international public finance bonds and structured finance products totalled $2.07 trillion in the first four months of 2018, up by 1% from $2.05 trillion in the same period of 2017. In comparison, it said that global bond issuance reached $5.4 trillion in 2015 and $6.1 trillion in 2016. It attributed the year-on-year increase in the first four months…

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Foreigners Can’t Resist South African Debt. That’s a Problem

Foreigners Can’t Resist South African Debt. That’s a Problem

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreign investors just can’t resist South African bonds — that should worry policy makers in Africa’s most-industrialized economy. Non-resident holdings of the country’s debt climbed to 43 percent in March from 41 percent at the end of December, according to National Treasury data. That’s almost double the emerging-market average, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. figures. When it comes to fixed-rate securities, which constitute 82 percent of South Africa’s 1.76 trillion rand ($140 billion)…

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Helios Towers Africa Considering London Stock Exchange Listing

Helios Towers Africa Considering London Stock Exchange Listing

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s Helios Towers, the independent telecoms tower infrastructure company and its shareholders are exploring strategic options for the business to drive its long-term growth. This may include the possibility of listing on the London Stock Exchange. At this stage, no decision has been made with all options remaining open to the company. Kash Pandya, CEO, commented: “This is an exciting time for Helios Towers as we continue to execute…

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Market Watch: Egyptian Equity Indices End in Mixed Note, Market Cap up EGP3bn

Market Watch: Egyptian Equity Indices End in Mixed Note, Market Cap up EGP3bn

Cairo (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) ended Monday’s (17th July 2017) trading session on a mixed note, as the benchmark index EGX30 rose 1.02%, gaining 140.55 points, and closed at the level of 13,956.32 points. The equal-weighted index EGX50 rose 0.81% to 2,141.02 points. On the other hand, EGX70 declined by 0.75% to the level of 679.46 points, while the broader index EGX100 slipped 0.09% and closed at 1,569.44 points. The…

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Nigerian Equity Markets: Key Drivers Still Under Siege

Nigerian Equity Markets: Key Drivers Still Under Siege

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Analysis of market performance in 2016 indicated that although a combination of poor corporate releases as well as weak macroeconomic fundamentals contributed to the negative return for the year, market volatility remained largely consistent with instability in the currency market. More specifically, while bearish sentiments persisted for most of 2016, equities rallied between May and July 2016 due to reforms in the Oil & Gas sector and adoption of…

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