Deutsche Börse Market Data + Services today announced that it will begin disseminating fixed income indices and bond pricing data from African countries starting on 24 November 2014. Concerto African Bond Indices are the first independent index family to measure pan-African local currency sovereign bond performance. The indices are calculated and maintained by Germany-based Concerto Financial Solutions.
Many African nations are experiencing significant growth fueled by factors including increased political stability, abundant natural resources, and rising middle and consumer classes. Yet obtaining financing from more developed countries to ensure continued growth has become significantly more difficult in light of the global financial crisis of recent years. Hence many African countries are expanding and improving their local bond markets and developing domestic investor bases, in order to finance their growth, improve their sustainability, and reduce their dependence on international investors and foreign currencies. The development of local currency bond markets has received the expressed and repeated support of the G-20 countries.
According to a recent study on African bond markets produced by Concerto, more than 25 African countries currently issue domestic treasury bonds with more than a dozen issuing medium to long-term debt on a regular basis. Outstanding local currency bond volume from sovereign African borrowers exceeds USD 300 billion, with nominal yields ranging from about two percent in Mauritius and Morocco to nearly 25% in Ghana. To complement and support growth in these markets, accurate and reliable African bond data is essential.
“Africa presents an intriguing growth story for investors seeking emerging market exposure,” said Georg Gross, Head of Information, Market Data + Services, Deutsche Börse AG. “International investors require objective, transparent market data with which to evaluate their investments, particularly in developing regions. The Concerto Bond Indices serve as a consistent and reliable benchmark for the most promising bond markets in Africa.”
“The many positive developments happening in Africa are beginning to bear fruit, meaning that attractive returns are available to investors along with diversification opportunities. Our indices provide investors with transparent and reliable information that goes beyond tabloid news. The indices add a new dimension for investments, but also contribute to the further development of local currency bond markets. We are very pleased that Deutsche Börse is joining us at the forefront of this development and expanding its coverage to these new and exciting markets,” said Michael Abraham, Managing Partner at Concerto Financial Solutions.
The Concerto African Indices were launched in October 2013 and measure the performance of government bonds from the following 12 countries: Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. The index family comprises pan-African indices, regional indices and country indices, as well as relevant maturity sub-indices. All indices are market capitalisation weighted. The indices are calculated daily in their respective local currency as well as in USD, EUR and ZAR. Daily index history is available back to 1 January 2010.
The index data being provided includes the index levels in the various currencies and their respective returns, as well as underlying bond data, including price data (bid/ask), yields, and bond reference data, such as issuer, coupon, country and currency. The bond prices are derived from publicly available sources, from data provided by Concerto’s contributors and modelled prices. Pricing data is published daily.
The Concerto African Bond Indices and respective bond data are disseminated via Deutsche Börse’s direct data feed CEF® Core. Historical data can be downloaded from the Deutsche Börse Historical Data WebShop at http://datashop.deutsche-boerse.com/.
More information can be found in the attached presentations and at www.mds.deutsche-boerse.com.