To see the digital version of this report, please <a href="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=543942ca-5756-4545-b6e7-d930d98d580c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onkeypress="window.open(this.href);return false;">click here</a>. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. First the good news: African sovereigns have tapped the international debt market with

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. Africa’s stronger credits, especially those with a track record in the syndicated loan market, are attracting an ever-growing pool of international banks to their loans, and demand has pushed pricing down closer to levels more commonly seen in Europe. Ghana’s cocoa industry regulator Cocobod, which taps the loan market on an annual ba

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. Sub-Saharan Africa, ex South Africa, markets fell back in August, led by Zimbabwe (down 22% following the latest election victory for President Mugabe) and Nigeria (down 6.1%). Smaller markets have continued their rises such as Malawi up 25% on the month, but on low volumes. In the year to the end of August, Malawi and Ghana have been

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. It is widely assumed that Africa has four major trading partners: Europe, the US, China, and everyone else. This is fallacious, as it overlooks the country that ranks as Africa’s real fourth largest trade partner, India. New Delhi has been slower off the mark in Africa in recent years than Beijing, which has cemented solid trading tie

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. First came the Asian Tigers, engorged by the go-go 1990s. Western funds roared in, dazzled by the returns on offer in Indonesia and Malaysia, departing as the Asian Financial Crisis unfolded. In the 2000s it was India’s turn, as investors scrambled to buy Mumbai-listed securities. Many departed (though lots remain) as India’s palpable

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. As the world recoiled from the financial crisis, a well-known economic weekly published a jarring front cover. The headline – “How China sees the world” – was a reaction to the post-Lehman carnage, wedded to Beijing’s active determination, in the form of a US$600bn stimulus package, to avoid a recession of its own. In the cover image,

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. Until recently South Africa was the economic powerhouse of the region. Only a decade ago it boasted 40% of the GDP of the 48 countries that make up Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Having shaken off apartheid in 1994, and with the totemic Nelson Mandela at the helm, it was a template of how things should be done. As if in echo of concerns ab

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. Africa’s need for infrastructure investment is no secret. With the possible exception of South Africa, there is a widespread need for essential services as well as more sophisticated shipping, rail and port facilities and telecoms. Indeed, the variety and complexity of what is required is often mind-blowing. It is only within the past

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. Investors are always looking for something shiny and new, usually an asset class where rewards are bigger and ultimately risk is too. In recent years, quantitative easing measures led by the Fed and pursued with vigour by leading central banks, convinced institutional investors to channel capital into some thoroughly shadowy places. E

To see the digital version of this report, please click here. To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email gloria.balbastro@thomsonreuters.com. Africa’s debt markets have had a tumultuous year. Despite misgivings by some investors, notably in May in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s first indications that it would soon reduce purchases of US Treasuries, bond sales have held up well throughout the year. Appetite for riskier securities among many emerging market investors re