GDP components and exports by region
The rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP in 2014 has made it clear that the country has Africa’s largest economy. It has also provided a much-improved picture of the changing make-up of the country’s GDP Components. While the country’s exports are heavily focused on oil, extractive industries make up a much smaller proportion of GDP. This is...
Listed equity fundamentals
Listed equity fundamentals such as price to earnings (P/E) ratios are an indication of how highly listed markets are valued at a point in time. Looking at the S&P 500 and the combination of African Indices gives some insight as to how African companies are priced in relation to developed market valuations. Interestingly, the analysis...
African stock exchanges
There is also a significant disparity between the level of development, size and liquidity of exchanges across Africa. However, African stock exchanges as a whole continue to develop at a rapid rate. Organisations such as ASEA (Africa Securities Exchange Association) have done much to enhance governance and promote the development of all its member...
Listed equity performance
Listed equity performance over the last five years based on local currency returns of the major African listed equity markets have been consistent with the continent’s growth expectations. Certain markets have suffered from political strife, but have recovered well to continue returning significant growth to investors. 2014 was a year categorised...
Development Finance Institution Practices in Africa
The focus, and accordingly the investment allocation, of different Development Finance Institutions (DFI) can vary broadly. Development Finance Institution Practices can be driven by the relative wealth of investee countries, or by sector or geography, impact driven, depending on the focus and the ultimate goals of each Development Finance Institutes....
Regional DFI vs GDP
When comparing the regional distribution of DFI investments in Africa from three of the largest DFIs (IFC, EIB and CDC), Southern Africa (ex-SA) receives the highest nominal allocation of USD 2.9bn in contrast to Egypt & Sudan which receives USD 400m. However, when comparing the investment to regional GDP figures the Maghreb region has the...
Global New Deal Allocation
The ACP region continues to attract the highest allocations of new capital from EDFIs, both in value and in number of deals. In 2013 EDFIs invested in a total of 202 new deals in ACP, amounting to USD 2.5bn of new investment. This level is significantly above the average of 51 deals amounting to USD...
Development finance institutions in Africa
Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are government-funded institutions that make investments in sectors and countries that would not otherwise attract significant capital. DFIs generally aim to have a developmental impact in the markets in which they invest, alongside the requirement for sustainable returns. Over and above the primary impact of...
Insurance AUM in Africa
RisCura estimates that African insurance AUM totals approximately USD 273bn, with the vast majority of these assets coming from South African insurance companies. This is the result of an insurance penetration rate of more than 14% in South Africa, far higher than any other region on the continent, and one of the highest penetration rates...
Demographic trends and labour market
The state of social security frameworks is typically a function of a country’s environment as much as a response to it. While Africa proves no exception to trends of universally ageing populations, the continent still has a young population compared to the rest of the world. Uganda for example has a median age of 15...