Trading on a number of markets across the world was suspended as the Global Financial Crisis persisted. Markets in Russia, Indonesia and Iceland were suspended while the US, European and Asian markets tumbled to huge losses. Malawi was the only market in Africa to record a marginal appreciation, with Namibia, Mauritius, South Africa and Egypt reporting declines of 16% to 20%.

So are African Markets really immune from the global financial crisis? Foreign inflows drive a number of the markets in Africa and fears are growing that a credit crunch in the more developed world could mean Africa is ignored as an investment destination. We however believe that Africa should be positioning itself as the final frontier and a realistic alternative to the flapping global markets. Despite recent declines, year-to-date returns on some African markets are impressive as are the fundamentals of a number of companies listed.

We expect average inflation for Africa, based on 16 selected countries, to further increase from 13.3% at the end of the second quarter to 15.5% by the end of the third quarter of the year; mainly on account of higher inflationary expectations in South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Botswana and Uganda.