The Egyptian stock market has emerged the most appreciating stock market in the world for the just concluded year, as investors were rewarded with a 49.56 percent yield-to-date (YTD) return on investment from the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).
Meristem Research, a financial market consultancy firm showed in a recent study that the Kenyan stock market came second with a 39.32 percent YTD return on investment.
The Nigerian and Ghanaian bourses followed with a 35.45 percent appreciation, while the South African market returned a 23.81 percent profit to investors.
The rise of the Egyptian stock market which plummeted in capitalization by almost 50 percent in 2011 as a result of protracted economic and civil unrest, has been largely tied to prospective political progress in the country.
Local and foreign investors have plunged belief and funds in the market following a seemingly continuing calm at the end of the revolution that saw its former president Hosni Mubarak ousted.
However, the economic outlook of the country is uncertain. Massive unemployment persists, with fresh crisis erupting fuelled by religious disagreement over new constitutional make up.
The government has sort foreign aid from the World Bank, and several countries, with confidence that the funds will boost investor confidence in the economy and help drive growth.
According to BusinessDay, the US Dow Jones Average closed the year with YtD of 6.40 percent, NASDAQ Composite Index 13.95 percent, UK FTSE All Share Index 8.61 percent, France FAC 40 Index 14.80 percent and German Dax Index, 29 percent.
YtD from China’s Hang Seng was 23.90 percent, India BSE 30 index 25.82 percent and Japan Nikkei 225, 22.94 percent.
With comparison to the African contemporaries, the performance profile shows that African markets are the most attractive on returns, and is expected to drive increased migration of investors to emerging and frontier markets like Nigeria, other African countries.
Egyptian Exchange (EGX), comprises two exchanges, a Cairo and an Alexandria based bourses, with both governed by the same board of directors and sharing the same trading, clearing and settlement systems.
