African equity markets displayed a wide divergence in performance in 2026, as frontier exchanges in East and West Africa outperformed larger markets like South Africa and Morocco.
According to performance overview of trading data from African Markets on Friday, Tanzania led the continent in year to date local currency gains, with the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange All Share Index soaring 69.52 per cent. The benchmark closed the week at 4,682.13 following a 1.74 per cent weekly advance, translating to 56.80 per cent return in US dollar terms.
Close behind, Zimbabwe’s ZSE All Share Index posted a 67.67 per cent local year to date return, representing 63.59 per cent in US dollars, after gaining 2.86 per cent over the week to reach 465.90.
Nigeria’s NGX All-Share Index also maintained its upward trajectory, trading up 0.92 per cent over the week to 252,113.41, which brings its local year-to-date gain to 62.01 per cent and an impressive 76.05 per cent in dollar terms.
Data from African Markets shows Nigeria had dominated performance rankings for much of 2026 buoyed by banking sector gains, stable naira and improving macroeconomic sentiment, before Zimbabwe overtook it in late July. As of July 31, Zimbabwe returned 68.5 per cent in dollar terms and Nigeria 66.9 per cent among 17 exchanges tracked.
Other notable performers included Ghana, where the GSE Composite Index advanced 58.34 per cent local year to date or 42.63 per cent in US dollar terms, the BRVM with 56.41 per cent local or 51.81 per cent in dollars, and Uganda’s USE All Share with 54.63 per cent local and 46.29 per cent in dollars.
The broader resurgence has seen 11 of 17 African indices outperforming the S&P 500’s 9.3 per cent dollar return this year, highlighting renewed investor appetite for frontier markets.
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