How to access Africa's untapped potential

AFRICA'S UNTAPPED STORY

Joanna Faith investigates the consumer story driving returns in the region.

Despite the positive long-term financial and macroeconomic forces at work in Africa, there are still plenty of threats to investors including geopolitical uncertainty, currency fluctuations and illiquidity problems. One way Africa managers alleviate these risks is by allocating a significant part of their portfolio to South Africa, a distinct economy with a highly sophisticated, well-researched stock market and a relatively stable government. The £306m JPM Africa Equity fund, for example, has 43% in the country while the £7.5m Neptune Africa fund has 85.9% exposure to South Africa com...