2025 Absa Africa Financial Markets Index Released

 

I am delighted to pass along the recently released Absa Africa Financial Markets Index. The Absa Africa Financial Markets Index was produced by OMFIF in association with Absa Group Limited. The pRess Release explained:

Progress despite global headwinds

The past 12 months have seen highs and lows around the world. Difficult macroeconomic conditions, compounded by a turbulent trade environment and geopolitical tensions, have created challenges for African economies. As a result, countries in this year’s Absa Africa Financial Markets Index have seen their progress hampered by global headwinds. While a third of countries were able to improve their overall scores, the remaining two-thirds saw their scores fall or remain unchanged. However, this is just the surface story. The detail shows important developments in a number of areas.

The index assesses financial market development across the continent through the lens of transparency, accessibility and openness. Now in its ninth year, it provides a benchmark for market infrastructure and an opportunity for policy-makers to learn from improvements across Africa. With support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the index covers 29 economies in the region. This equates to approximately 80% of the population and gross domestic product of Africa.

Enter your details on the right to access the report.

The most interesting focus of the findings are on those instruments and actions that reflec6ted the sensibilities and objectives of the international al financial order before 2015. Not that these are either wrongheaded or irrelevant.  It is just that since 2015 and especially in the United States since 2025, the focus of financial instruments and political objectives in both liberal democratic and Marxist Leninist States has shifted primarily toward modernization (by whatever name modernization is utilized--development, stronger national economic integration, sector security and the like). Most useful, in this respect, then, is on the growth of market variation in financial products offered--greater variation suggesting depth of market and a growing consumer taste for differentiated product. Bit the object of all of this is development and development strategies and it is hoped that this might be better focused. In that respect ESG and ESG related products are a great vase in point, one that requires a bit m ore drilling down to the essence of the product offered to get a better sense of what it is that the market considers useful or at least market ready ESG instruments. That is a small quibble in light of the quite useful information digested and presented in the report, one worth considering carefully. 

Key findings:

While many economies faced a decline in reserves adequacy in the 12 months to June 2025, countries that prioritised tackling inefficient foreign exchange regimes fared best.

In total, 18 AFMI economies now offer environmental, social and governance-related or Islamic financial products, providing crucial diversification for both short- and long-term investment.

Despite backtracks on ESG goals globally in the past year, four AFMI countries have issued green bonds for the first time this year, taking the total number to 14.

Expectations for GDP growth rose in 22 countries this year despite the more challenging economic conditions.

 The Table of Contents and the Executive Summary of the Index follows below.