Africa’s financial markets: opportunities, challenges and sustainable growth

As the world’s next big growth market, Africa is the focus of considerable international investment interest. An understanding of the continent’s potential to mobilise and integrate domestic financial resources is a crucial prerequisite for making maximum use of foreign capital inflows.

The fourth annual Absa Africa Financial Markets Index, produced by OMFIF, records the openness to foreign investment in countries across the continent. It is a premier indicator of the attractiveness and flexibility of Africa’s capital markets, for use by policy-makers, investors and asset managers around the world. The index serves as a benchmark for the state of Africa’s financial infrastructure and is a valuable instrument to enhance market depth, deepen access to foreign exchange and improve market transparency.

OMFIF and Absa are organising an on-the-record virtual launch for the fourth edition of the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index on Wednesday 14 October 2020. This will include a keynote address, a presentation of findings and a panel discussion featuring policy-makers and practitioners from across Africa and beyond. The panel will discuss the findings of the report – expanded in 2020 to cover 23 economies – and reflect on opportunities and challenges in financial market development. Key areas for attention will be conditions for foreign investment and prospects for regional integration and sustainable growth in Africa in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Speakers: