Africa’s local currency bond markets have been developing rapidly in the past few years. Demand for fixed-income assets, particularly in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, has risen significantly, and much of it has come from foreigners.
Nigeria has seen heavy inflows recently. Gross investment from foreign portfolio investors totalled $13.4bn in 2012, almost triple the 2011 figure of $4.5bn. This was largely a result of the country being included in JP Morgan’s local currency emerging market bond index in October.
