Bloomberg: Silicon (Valley) Is the Hot New Commodity in Africa

Bloomberg- Silicon (Valley) Is the Hot New Commodity in Africa

"The titans of Silicon Valley are undeterred by the economic slump afflicting much of Africa. Facebook Inc., Google, Oracle Corp. and Uber Technologies Inc. are at the leading edge of turning the world’s frontier markets digital. As the commodity crash buffets the continent’s biggest economies, the interest and investments couldn’t come at a better time. Almost half of foreign direct investment projects in Africa last year were in technology, telecommunications, financial services and consumer products."

For the full article, please click here.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-20/as-commodity-slump-batters-africa-investors-turn-to-technology

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

On South Africa's Rand

South Africa's currency, the Rand, has seen a sharp sell off recently due to reports that the finance minister of South Africa has been notified to appear before the Hawks to face charges. We present the following two charts of the South Africa Rand: first, the Rand from December 2015 when President Zuma removed Finance Minister Nene; and second, the reaction of the Rand to the current news.

Back in December, the Rand fell over 9% across two days before Zuma was forced to appoint Gordhan as the Finance Minister to stem the slide, and the Rand then recovered in the next 2 days to just 2.7% down.

The current sell off in the Rand has not yet reached a similar bottom as compared to the December chart, and it can be expected to get worse if President Zuma does not change course. However, President Zuma would face the same pressures, if not more, as in December and a quick recovery is still possible if Finance Minister Gordhan's situation is resolved amicably.

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We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

Why US Investor Michael Milken Is Bullish on Sub-Saharan Africa

AFK Insider- "Human capital is the world’s best investment, which is why Africa — with its youthful demographic — is such an attractive place to invest, said investor and philanthropist Michael Milken."

For the full article, please click here.

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We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

10 Things the IMF Wants You to Know About Africa's Economy

World Economic Forum- "It’s tough for everyone: the world’s growth this year also been revised downward to 3.2%, from 3.4%. Weak recovery to 3.5% next year is expected. But sub-Saharan Africa’s growth is expected to pick up to 4% in 2017, helped by a recovery in commodity prices—but also significantly, timely policy intervention."

For the full article, please click here.

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

The Economist: Making Africa Work

The Economist - "...Afro-pessimists should remember two things about commodity busts. They don’t last for ever. And they don’t hurt everyone: 17 African countries with a quarter of the region’s population will show a net benefit from the current one, thanks to cheaper energy. More important, by focusing on the minerals markets it is easy to miss some big trends that are happening above ground—and these are mostly positive."

For the full article, please click here.

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

Do You Know How Diversified Africa's Exports Are?

World Economic Forum- Do you know how diversified Africa's exports are?  The World Economic Forum has posted an insightful map showing each country's major export. 

For the full article, please click here.

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

Yahoo Finance: Lower Oil and Higher Gold Could be Great for African Investments

Yahoo Finance- "Falling crude prices and the rallying gold market could mean bad news for some but good news for many investors in Africa."

For the full article, please click here.

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

The Fed and the Dollar Shock

Financial Times- "The dismal performance of asset prices continued last week, despite a rebound on Friday. There are many different forces at work, but recently the focus has turned to the weakening US economy. This weakness seems to be in direct conflict with the continued determination of the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy... The FOMC may be underestimating the need to offset the major dollar shock that is currently hitting the economy."

For the full article, please click here.

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

Goldman Sachs Abandons Five of Six 'Top Trade' Calls for 2016

Bloomberg- "Goldman Sachs to clients: whoops. Just six weeks into 2016, the New York-based bank has abandoned five of six recommended top trades for the year.
The dollar versus a basket of euro and yen; yields on Italian bonds versus their German counterparts; U.S. inflation expectations: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was wrong on all that and more."

We believe this is good news for potentially allocating to markets such as ours, and highlight the article's note regarding the weaker rand vs peso call being reversed.

Click here for the full article.

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

Sustainable and Responsible Investing In Sub Saharan Africa - Does Responsible Investing Outperform In Africa?

A new paper by Investec Securities analyses the performance of HIGH ESG stocks versus LOW ESG stocks.

The results might surprise you.  Positive ESG screening improves risk adjusted returns. The table below summarizes the performance results

  

Mean share price performance (in USD) for Low ESG and High ESG groups

                         1 years              3 years                  5 years

Low ESG          -33%                 11%                        32%

High ESG         -28%                 42%                        55%

Source: Investec Securities

When thinking about Sustainable and responsible investing, ESG acronym stands for environmental, social and governance screening.  The ESG factors are used as positive screening methods that identify opportunities, which promote the principles of responsible investing.

For more information about the paper email us at info@nilecapital.com

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town

For more information please call 646-367-2820

The ‘Africa Rising’ Story is No Fairytale

Moneyweb Today -  
"Despite global economic headwinds, characterised by a commodity price collapse, the ‘Africa rising’ narrative is still very much alive. However, instead of the continent being championed as a collective, investors are seeking opportunities within regional pockets of sustainable growth. Thursday's Africa Outlook 2016 event, hosted by Frontier Advisory Deloitte in Woodmead, revealed that the continent’s growth story is not as romantic as when it was told three or four years ago." Click through the following link to read the full article: The ‘Africa rising’ story is no fairy tale

Nile Capital Management

We Know Africa: From Cairo to Cape Town
For more information please call 646-367-2820