Emily Fletcher, co-manager of the Frontiers Investment Trust at BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager says, “It has been a tough decade for African markets… Over the past 10 years to the end of April, the Kenyan market has fallen 12 per cent, the Nigerian market 89 per cent, and the Egyptian market 46 per cent. The larger South African index, although positive, has fared little better, returning just 7 per cent.” While gross domestic product has continued to grow in most African countries, notes Fletcher, stock markets have “resolutely disappointed, highlighting yet again the minimal correlation between GDP and stock prices in emerging markets”.

FT