Analytics

Friday, April 13, 2012

Frontier Markets in Africa
http://bit.ly/IDcpPZ
In case you are thinking that Africa is home of nations that are backward and underdeveloped, you need to update your knowledge. Now it is home to some of the best emerging markets, which can be even compared to the other economies of the world. Several of the African countries have developing financial markets that attract investors from across the world. Lot of these markets have even been tagged as "emerging markets" by International Monetary Fund. Growth has taken off in sub-Saharan Africa with private sector being the most important driver. The financial markets are opening up and institutional financial investors are populating up in these regions. With financial technology getting complex around the world, banking institutions are opening up and developing in these emerging markets to meet the needs of people. Overall, the area has noticed a dramatic increase in loan disbursement and improvement of financial institutions. Global economic environment is playing a major role in development of these markets. With developed markets getting saturated and failing, and with news every now and then of companies seeking bailout, investors are looking towards areas which have high potential and are unexplored. The search for high profit margins and availability of liquidity has encouraged the investors to look towards emerging markets in Africa. Previously, the investors accessed the emerging economies mainly through equity markets, but now with emergence of financial technology, the investors can perform wide variety of financial activities with range of financial instruments. Growth over the past two to three decades has forced the financial markets to become more complex and sophisticated. To cater to this complexity and sophistication and to match the world's level, lot of financial infrastructure has been lately developed in the emerging markets of Africa. However, these challenges are tough to face, but will eventually be solved with passage of time as more and more investment is done into these areas. Amongst the sub-Saharan countries, South Africa is considered one of the most developed markets. But, lately, there have emerged markets which have offered prospect of handsome returns to the institutional investors. The improvement in banking systems and increased penetration of mobile phones in the areas is a clear-cut indication of growth and development. Countries like Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda along with some countries have been given status of "emerging markets" by IMF, lately. Though there is a long way to go, but recent history suggests that the prospects are bright. There are many other factors that combine to make the analysts believe strongly that these Frontier Markets In Africa are the next stop of investors.

No comments:

Post a Comment