The Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – As if January’s potential record gain isn’t enough, the rand may be in for a positive February as well if history is any guide. Seasonal data show that South Africa’s currency has strengthened against the dollar in February in seven of the past 10 years. Optimism about local political developments and a global risk-on mood spurred the rand to back-to-back monthly gains in January and February last year, and the same factors have…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – It appears foreign investors can no longer resist the allure of some of the juiciest yields in emerging markets. In debt auctions held this week, they bought 30 percent of Egyptian local-currency Treasury bills and more than half of longer-dated bonds, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Tuesday. They acquired all of the five-year securities sold a day earlier, in what the ministry labeled a clear sign of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)  – The fortunes of Egypt and Nigeria’s local-currency bonds have diverged. Foreign inflows into Egyptian Treasury bills has narrowed the yield gap with Nigerian assets to below a percentage point for the first time in almost a year. That’s partly because the North African nation hasn’t been making headlines, which is in sharp contrast to Nigeria, where assets missed out on a rally this year because of political chaos ahead of general elections…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa)  – Mom-and-pop investors are fleeing U.K. property funds at the fastest pace in more than two years, roiling an almost $24 billion-corner of the money management industry. Withdrawals from the biggest U.K. property funds accelerated in the final months of 2018 as the global equity market rout added to worries about Brexit and the floundering retail sector. That’s forcing several funds, including those managed by Standard Life Aberdeen Plc and Nuveen LLC, to sell real…