The Zimbabwean Stock Exchange is Africa’s Best Performing Stock Exchange

A stock exchange is an organized and regulated market where financial instruments such as stocks and bonds, are bought and sold. The Index therefore measures and gives an indication of the perception of the people towards the financial market of a country. If the index is negative, it indicates that investors have a negative sentiments towards buying or selling financial instruments in that country- Here, the BEARS are said to dominate. If it is positive, then it indicates high optimism on the part of the investors- Here, the BULLS are said to dominate the market. The level of pessimism or optimism is therefore shown by the percentage figure in which the overall index level of a country indicates. For example, the NSE-ASI (Nigerian Stock Exchange-All Share Index) is the overall index that measures how well the Nigerian Stock Exchange is performing.

Please note that the Zimbabwean Dollar was issued (for the first time since 2009) on Tuesday 12th November 2019 and this is in light of its government bringing down the level of inflation in the country, hence the exchange rate equaling the dollar as at the date of issue. You can read more on the currency and the reason for the move here

As at Tuesday 12th November 2019 therefore, the Zimbawean Stock Exchange Industrial Index has returned more money for its investors than any other stock exchange in Africa as its Year to Date returns stands at 67% in local currency, 67% in Dollars and 74% in Euro.

The EGX 30 (previously called the CASE 30 index) of Egypt is a weighted index of the 30 most liquid and capitalized stocks on the Egyptian stock exchange and has over the time, been used as the country’s stock market index. As at the close of the market on Tuesday 12th November 2019, the EGX-30 closed in the red of -0.68%, with its 1 week returns as -0.81 and Year to Date returns of 12.54% in the local currency. Hence, it is the second best performing stock exchange in Africa at the moment.

Following the Egyptian Stock Exchange are Nairobi Stock Exchange, Uganda Stock Exchange and Johannesbourg Stock Exchange as their yearly returns among the selected exchanges as at Tuesday 12th November 2019 are 11.81%, 7.07% and 6.94% respectively.

Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (BRVM) is the regional stock exchange serving Benin republic, Niger republic, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Guinea Bissau. In Africa, and among the selected indexes, the BRVM Composite Index is the worst performing index as its returns to the investors is negative at 17.95% and the exchange rate is also the highest among the least performing stock exchange on the continent.

Followed closely is the Lusaka Stock Exchange of Zambia with a negative return of 17.84% to its investors and 1 week return of 0.13%. The Nigerian Stock Exchange is the third least performing on the continent as its returns to the investors Year to Date is a negative one at 15.83%. It is however worthy to note that the Nigerian Stock Exchange was the best performing on Tuesday 12th November 2019 as it recorded 0.54% gain as the All Share Index increased to 26,456.39 points. The Ghana Composite Index and Botswana Stock Exchange completes the list of top five (5) least performing stock exchange in Africa with Year to Date Negative returns of 15.61% and 4.08% respectively.

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