🎧 Capital Markets Africa Weekly News Roundup, 3rd November 2023

Welcome to the Capital Markets Africa weekly news roundup. Your source for the latest happenings across the listed African equities space.

We kick things off in Nigeria where earlier in the week, the country was moved from the MSCI Frontier Markets Index to the MSCI Standalone Markets Indexes. This was part of MSCI’s annual market classification review which is designed to ensure that MSCI indices accurately group global equity markets.

In recent years, Nigeria has faced significant foreign exchange liquidity challenges which have affected foreign investors’ ability to access its local equity market. In particular, there have been concerns about capital repatriation, and the gap between the official and unofficial naira-US dollar rates.

Other MSCI standalone markets include Argentina, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

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Still in Nigeria where several of the country's largest banks such Zenith, Access, Fidelity, Guaranty Trust, and First Bank of Nigeria, have all reported strong quarterly results. Fidelity saw a 61% increase in gross earnings for the year to date, while Zenith also saw an increase of 113% in gross earnings for the same time period.

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And finally, to Zimbabwe where National Foods, the country’s largest food manufacturer, generated a revenue of over US$340 million, a 22% increase on last year. Profit after tax however was down from US$12.4 million to US$7.5 million, a nearly 40% drop. National Foods produces a broad range of fast moving consumer goods as well as animal feed. Its top shareholders include Innscor Africa Limited, Tiger Food Brands Limited, and various local pension schemes. National Foods is listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.

Join us again next Friday on the Capital Markets Africa Weekly News Roundup!

© Capital Markets Africa, 2023

Founded by journalist Chipo Muwowo, Capital Markets Africa aims to raise the profile of African listed companies. Whether you're a retail or institutional investor, based in Africa or outside, we want you to be better educated about the investment opportunity set and the broader African equities market ecosystem. Subscribe today!