Equities Rebound in Nairobi and Lagos as BRVM, Accra Retreat

Key Takeaways

The strong year-to-date gains across African equities reflect renewed investor interest in frontier and emerging markets, particularly as global rate-cut expectations drive capital into high-yielding regions. However, the weekly pullbacks in Accra and Blantyre highlight profit-taking and rotation, especially in markets that had run hot. The Ghanaian cedi’s recent resilience has attracted foreign inflows, explaining the outsize return, though sustainability remains in question amid fiscal consolidation concerns. Conversely, the Nigerian and Kenyan markets saw improved trading activity and breadth, pointing to renewed local investor confidence, likely tied to improved liquidity conditions and policy clarity. South Africa’s JSE is seeing mid- and small-cap outperformance, hinting at domestic rotation amid global equity recovery. On the BRVM, the slight weekly dip masks strong underlying stock-level performance. With the CFA franc’s euro peg providing currency stability, UEMOA stocks continue attracting regional institutional capital. Yet, thinner volumes this week could signal cautious sentiment ahead of key macro data and central bank signals across West Africa.