So far in 2019, African countries have mostly emerged as the best performing Eurobond market in the world. Nigeria is one of them.
According to Bloomberg, some of the continent’s leading economies have dominated the latest list of the best performing countries in the Eurobond space.
This is happening, just as the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided in January to maintain interest rate at at 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 percent. This decision had enticed “traders to buy up riskier, high-yielding assets”, even as African countries have managed to position themselves as “the place to be for emerging-market bond investors.”
Most of the best performing countries are in Africa, followed by South America, and then the Middle East. And Nigeria is among the top five performers which are – Kenya, Zambia, Argentina, Nigeria, and Angola.
“The continent’s dollar securities are outperforming those of all other regions this year as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dovish tilt entices traders to buy up riskier, high-yielding assets.
African names dominate the list of best countries in the Eurobond space. Kenya is out in front, its debt having returned 9.9 percent, while Zambia is in second place. Oil producers including Nigeria, Angola and Gabon also feature.”
Other well performing countries on the list are – Ecuador, Papua New Ginea, Gabon, Senegal, Jordan, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon.
Already, Africa has is said to have recorded about 6.4% Eurobond gain in 2019. This is far above the average gain of 4.4% for emerging markets.
Meanwhile, reacting to this development, Egyptian billionaire and the Chairman of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding S.A.E, Mr Naguin Sawiris, said he is very confident of the investment prospects in Africa this year. However, same cannot be said for Europe, which he said is a “big mess” right now.
Note that no single European country is featured on the list of Eurobond’s best performers.
