If you want to be featured in this section, get in touch via editor “at” africaglobalfunds.comBy S&P GlobalJanuary started how December ended for much of Africa, with North Africa setting the pace and West Africa going through a difficult time (S&P North Africa 15 up 8.27%; S&P West Africa 25 down 9.78%), and the continent overall delivering a marginally positive return. The other markets performances were within touching distance of zero, other than Nigeria (down 18.79%)Unfortunately, the South African equity market didn’t get off to a good start in 2024, with large-caps contributing to a poor month overall (S&P South Africa Composite Capped down 3.05%; S&P South Africa 50 down 3.59%). Information Technology, the best performing sector in 2023 (S&P South Africa Composite Information Technology up 41.31% 2023), made a solid start to the year and although it returned a modest 2.21% for January, it was the top sector for the month. January saw this poor performance continuing (S&P South Africa Composite Communications down 14.83%) taking its one-year loss to over 31%. Quality was one of the better factors in 2023 after a strong final quarter (S&P Quality South Africa +15.66% 2023; up 14.76% Q3 2023) however, it was the biggest loser for January with a negative return of 6%.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 24, 2024 09:46 UTC