“The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced on Thursday it collaborated with Bloomberg on the Launch of AFMISM Bloomberg an African Bond Index, through the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI)“, ZAWYA reported last Saturday.
The new Bloomberg composite index is comprised of the following Bloomberg country specific local currency sovereign indices:
- South Africa
- Egypt
- Nigeria
- Kenya
“The launch of the indices comes as a welcome development at a time when African countries are increasingly looking to domestic capital markets to source much needed financing for economic development” Stefan Nalletamby, the Director of the Financial Sector Development Department of the AfDB said.
In order to be included in the index, a security must have at least one year remaining to maturity and withstand price stability tests. Bloomberg reported that further liquid markets are expected to be added to the index later this year.
According to the Daily News Egypt, the AFMI together with the AFDB are working on deepening the continent’s local currency bond markets, and are also striving to create an environment where African countries can easier access financing at variable terms.
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