Regular readers will be familiar with our increasing concerns about the eurozone, as outlined in Monday’s blog post. Following an extraordinary session of Business Monitor International’s Politburo Standing Committee (in this case our Europe and Global Analysts), we outline our core views on the eurozone debt crisis: Policymakers will take the necessary steps to prevent… [Read more]

When it comes to Sub-Saharan African markets, I favour equities as an asset class. Of course, selectivity is key: I prefer Nigerian, Ghanaian and Zambian stocks. In Nigeria’s case, I think improved investor confidence following the election will drive the market higher as participants reduce the political risk premium and focus on the attractive macroeconomic… [Read more]

Africa has often been called the last frontier for investors, a place where only those with the strongest appetite for risk would ever dare to put their money. Well in the case of fixed income investors, it would appear that even this ‘final frontier’ has been reached – and it is starting to look a… [Read more]

With the improvement in financial market conditions seen over the last few months, a number of African countries are reviving or devising plans to launch US dollar denominated bonds – or Eurobonds. While the majority of the volume will come from the larger, better established economies like Nigeria, Kenya and Angola, smaller players are also… [Read more]

After months of mulling over the possibility of a Eurobond sale, Angolan authorities confirmed last month that the issue would go ahead in the early 2010. The amount being sought is reported to be close US$4.0bn – quite a sum for country whose nominal GDP is only about US$100bn. To my mind, the decision to… [Read more]

With risk appetite still on and markets racing ahead, I have been seeking out some of the more unconventional, ‘frontier’ plays. These are not for the faint-hearted but I like the look of several sovereign bonds – Ghana’s US$ 2017 global bond, Republic of Congo’s US$ 2029 global bond and Ukraine’s US$ 2013 global bond…. [Read more]