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By Patrick Alushula

First Published October 23, 2018 21:20

 

Kenya is now ranked third most attractive financial market in Africa after South Africa and Botswana, buoyed by stronger policies and a host of newly launched products, a new survey shows.

The country jumped two places from position five in 2017, according to Absa Africa Financial Markets Index 2018.

Only Kenya, Morocco and the Seychelles improved their scores most over the last year, particularly in terms of openness to foreign exchange, according to the report.

The report assesses progress and potential across six key areas: market depth; access to foreign exchange; market transparency, tax and regulatory environment; macroeconomic opportunity; and the legality and enforceability of standard financial markets master agreements.

Kenya scored the highest (93 out of 100 points) on “access to foreign exchange pillar,” beating South Africa to the top position in the report that was prepared by Absa Group and Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).

“Kenya earns the highest marks in this pillar, a significant improvement from ranking sixth last year. The relaxation of capital controls boosted its performance, as did improvement of the country’s net portfolio flows to reserves ratio,” says the report.

It is followed by South Africa (91) Uganda (83), Botswana (79) and Zambia at 77 points in the pillar whose ranking looks at interbank market foreign exchange turnover, foreign exchange capital controls and frequency of official exchange rate reporting.

On the pillar legality and enforceability of standard financial markets master agreements, Kenya scores 83 points to rank third after South Africa (100 points) and Mauritius with 94 points.

Kenya is regarded among the top five markets with strong legal and enforcement frameworks that support financial agreements to provide attractive opportunities to international investors.

The index considered the extend by which markets follow Master Agreement of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the Global Master Repurchase Agreement and the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement. Continue reading...

Source: Business Daily