African Market Research Articles

Exploring currency interdependence in West Africa: a time-varying parameter vector autoregression analysis

PurposeConsidering the impact of significant economic and political events, this study investigates the return spillovers and connectedness among eight West African currencies from March 31, 2010, to March 28, 2024. It aims to enhance understanding of the interdependencies within the West African foreign exchange market, providing insights into the region’s risk management and diversification opportunities.Design/methodology/approachUsing the time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) method, this study analyzes daily exchange rate returns to capture the dynamic spillover effects and connectedness among the selected currencies. This approach identifies key transmitters and receivers of return shocks, reflecting the evolving interactions among the currencies over time.FindingsThe results show that the Sierra Leonean Leone, Cape Verdean Escudo, and West African CFA Franc are significant net transmitters of return shocks. At the same time, the Ghana Cedi, Nigerian Naira, Gambian Dalasi, Guinean Franc, and Liberian Dollar are net receivers, with the Gambian Dalasi being the most affected. These findings suggest relatively low regional spillover connectedness, offering favorable diversification opportunities.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive analysis of the interconnectedness of West African currencies, contributing to the limited literature on this region. The findings have practical implications for investors and policymakers in managing foreign exchange risks and designing interventions to stabilize the market.

Perceptions of asset managers on corporate social responsibility challenges and opportunities

Purpose: Companies and investors in South Africa are challenged with multiple sustainability concerns. Asset managers have substantial power to motivate investee companies to focus on pressing corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues. Yet, there is limited scholarly evidence on how they process CSR information and which sustainability considerations influence their decisions. Therefore, the CSR challenges and opportunities that selected South African asset managers experience were explored.Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 South African asset managers. Thematic analysis was conducted to derive four main themes.Findings/results: Four considerations were identified on which the considered asset managers based their responsible investment decisions when reflecting on CSR practices. Firstly, CSR should form part of a company’s primary purpose. Secondly, the interviewees focussed on material industry-specific CSR risks when making investment decisions. Thirdly, the inclusion of CSR practices in asset managers’ decision-making was hindered by the relatively small South African investable market, a limited demand for responsible investments from asset owners and beneficiaries, and insufficient disclosure of material sustainability information. Lastly, the interviewees highlighted social and economic infrastructure investment opportunities. Furthermore, they mentioned that CSR practices can be improved by refined regulation and educating asset owners and beneficiaries.Practical implications: Corporate leaders are urged to increasingly engage with asset managers and collaborate with stakeholders from the private sector to address prominent sustainability issues and to capitalise on related opportunities.Originality/value: This research contributes four considerations to the limited body of knowledge on the unique CSR challenges and opportunities pertaining to the investment decisions of an influential stakeholder group, namely asset managers in South Africa.

Determinants of South African Asset Market Co-Movement: Evidence from Investor Sentiment and Changing Market Conditions

The co-movement of multi-asset markets in emerging markets has become an important determinant for investors seeking diversified portfolios and enhanced portfolio returns. Despite this, studies have failed to examine the determinants of the co-movement of multi-asset markets such as investor sentiment and changing market conditions. Accordingly, this study investigates the effect of investor sentiment on the co-movement of South African multi-asset markets by introducing alternating market conditions. The Markov regime-switching autoregressive (MS-AR) model and Markov regime-switching vector autoregressive (MS-VAR) model impulse response function are used from 2007 March to January 2024. The findings indicate that investor sentiment has a time-varying and regime-specific effect on the co-movement of South African multi-asset markets. In a bull market condition, investor sentiment positively affects the equity–bond and equity–gold co-movement. In the bear market condition, investor sentiment has a negative and significant effect on the equity–bond, equity–property, bond–gold, and bond–property co-movement. Similarly, in a bull regime, the co-movement of South African multi-asset markets positively responds to sentiment shocks, although this is only observed in the short term. However, in the bear market regime, the co-movement of South African multi-asset markets responds positively and negatively to sentiment shocks, despite this being observed in the long run. These observations provide interesting insights to policymakers, investors, and fund managers for portfolio diversification and risk management strategies. That being, the current policies are not robust enough to reduce asset market integration and reduce sentiment-induced markets. Consequently, policymakers must re-examine and amend current policies according to the findings of the study. In addition, portfolio rebalancing in line with the findings of this study is essential for portfolio diversification.

Mapping Corporate Governance: Exploring the Adaptation of Regulatory Frameworks in African Markets

Mapping Corporate Governance: Exploring the Adaptation of Regulatory Frameworks in African Markets

Navigating Economic Inequalities Alongside African Digital Market Integration: The Role of the AfCFTA Competition Protocol

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"The global rise of digital trade has shifted economic inequalities, narrowing gaps in some regions while exacerbating disparities between Africa and more digitally advanced areas. The massive dominance of Big Techs in digital markets has concentrated economic bene/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height: 107%;font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"fi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"ts among a few large players, often bypassing local African /spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"fi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"rms. The AfricanContinental Free TradeArea (AfCFTA) aims to enhance intra-African trade to foster economic growth with its newly adopted AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade focusing on integrating African digital markets. However, without careful regulation, this integration risks deepening existing disparities. Given that Big Techs/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf.I+20",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf\.I+20""’ /spanspan style="font-size: 10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family: AdvOTecfccdcf_I"dominance is a key driver of these imbalances, I explore how the AfCFTA/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "AdvOTecfccdcf.I+20",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf\.I+20""’/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"s Competition Protocol can be leveraged to navigate them. The Competition Protocol, with its multilayered approach to competition regulation, o/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%; font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"ff/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"ers a framework for ensuring digital trade fosters equitable economic development across Africa. It tackles anti-competitive conduct in cases with a continental dimension, such as the abuse of economic dependence by gatekeepers, mandates support for regional and national authorities through technical assistance and capacity-building, and promotes cooperation and coordinated enforcement between all three jurisdictional levels. While not a complete solution, the Protocol represents a signi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:107%;font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"fi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"cant step toward ensuring Africa/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf.I+20",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf\.I+20""’/spanspan style="font-size: 10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family: AdvOTecfccdcf_I"s digital market integration promotes equitable development./span o:p/o:p

Machine Learning Algorithms and Fine Art Pricing: Comparative performance to regression results for the South African market, 2009-22

Machine Learning Algorithms and Fine Art Pricing: Comparative performance to regression results for the South African market, 2009-22

Spillover effects and hedging abilities of cryptocurrencies: a case of the South African market

Spillover effects and hedging abilities of cryptocurrencies: a case of the South African market

Analyzing the Economic Viability of Microgrid Solutions in the South African Market

Analyzing the Economic Viability of Microgrid Solutions in the South African Market

Operational excellence in African markets: unveiling its drivers, processes and impacts through a mixed-methods approach

Purpose The aim of this study is to explore the concept of operational excellence (OPEX) in the context of African businesses. It seeks to identify the main themes, topics and trends within the OPEX discourse and to uncover emerging areas and potential directions for future research. By emphasizing the unique challenges and opportunities in African markets, this study aims to broaden the understanding of OPEX and its applicability in diverse business environments. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Using topic modeling and text analytics, the study examines a range of scholarly literature and social media content. The methodology involves a meticulous extraction and analysis of data from peer-reviewed journals, alongside an exploration of themes emerging from social media, blogs and forums. This approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of OPEX trends in both academic and practical contexts. Findings The study reveals that OPEX in African businesses is intricately linked with innovation, strategic leadership, cultural dynamics, global market integration and data analytics. Key findings include the importance of integrating cultural understanding into operational strategies, the role of adaptive leadership in navigating the African market and the necessity of aligning operational processes with global trends, innovations and data-driven insights. The research also highlights the unique challenges African firms face, such as balancing local and global business practices, leveraging cultural diversity for competitive advantage and harnessing the power of data analytics for OPEX. Originality/value This research contributes original insights into the understanding of OPEX in African business contexts, an area that has been relatively under-explored in existing literature. It offers a novel perspective by integrating academic and practical viewpoints, thereby providing a more holistic understanding of OPEX. The findings have significant implications for both business leaders and researchers, offering strategic directions for firms operating in or with African markets and suggesting new avenues for academic inquiry in the field of OPEX.

Chief Executive Officer Narcissism and Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance: The Moderating Role of Chief Executive Officer Gender

AbstractThis study explores the influence of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) narcissism on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of listed firms on the Johannesburg stock market (JSE). Using hand‐collected data from annual reports and ESG rating data from the CSRHub dataset, we conducted empirical analyses for 81 firms from 2014 to 2022. As the first study to assess CEO narcissism using a validated unobtrusive measure in the South African market, the Driscoll and Kraay approach of panel corrected standard errors was employed in the main analysis, while the two‐stage least squares (2SLS) model was used for robustness. Results revealed that there is a negative and significant relationship between CEO narcissism and ESG performance. Moreover, CEO gender positively moderates the negative relationship between CEO narcissism and ESG performance. The results provide a meaningful empirical addition to the upper echelons literature by delineating the implications of the dark sides of narcissism for management, regulators, and policymakers.

The Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Predict Stock Market Crises in Africa

This study sought to ascertain a machine learning algorithm capable of predicting crises in the African stock market with the highest accuracy. Seven different machine-learning algorithms were employed on historical stock prices of the eight stock markets, three main sentiment indicators, and the exchange rate of the respective countries’ currencies against the US dollar, each spanning from 1 May 2007 to 1 April 2023. It was revealed that extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) emerged as the most effective way of predicting crises. Historical stock prices and exchange rates were found to be the most important features, exerting strong influences on stock market crises. Regarding the sentiment front, investors’ perceptions of possible volatility on the S&P 500 (Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) VIX) and the Daily News Sentiment Index were identified as influential predictors. The study advances an understanding of market sentiment and emphasizes the importance of employing advanced computational techniques for risk management and market stability.

Cognitive and non-cognitive skills effect on labour market outcomes: a systematic review with implications for the African labour market

Cognitive and non-cognitive skills effect on labour market outcomes: a systematic review with implications for the African labour market

Challenges and Opportunities of E-commerce in the African Market: A Case Analysis of Amazon.com

Challenges and Opportunities of E-commerce in the African Market: A Case Analysis of Amazon.com

Commercially Available Supercapacitors –A Perspective on Global, African and Nigerian Markets

Supercapacitors are considered as promising energy storage devices for their remarkable properties.This makes their global market on constant improvement over the last decade, with the potential to have more market share. As more and more Supercapacitors (SCs) are becoming commercially available, we need to have their representative for comparing other newly developed technology. Achieving this involves studying their behaviors through simulations, experiments or combined approach.However, thisis time consuming if we consider simultaneous comparison of many SCs, since different technologies are available. Thus, there is the need to have a compilation of the SC technologies/manufacturers,as this information could easily help to compare and hence choose the most widely accepted technology.To meet this need, the study takes review approach through survey of relevant literatures and come up with the collation.The study considers commercial supercapacitors in the global, African and Nigerian markets,as the product availability from a given company, in these regions, is a mark of acceptance, robustness, and hence originality. The study identifies Maxwell technology to havemarket dominance over the three classified regions of consideration, followed by the Eaton technology which dominates two of the regions.Hence, based on the result of this study, Maxwell and Eaton SCs could be adopted as the standard technologies for comparingother and newly developed products.

Improving realised volatility forecast for emerging markets

AbstractAccurate forecasting of realised volatility is essential for financial risk management and investment decision-making in emerging markets, taking the South African financial market as a benchmark. This study examines the predictive performance of four prominent models: HAR (Heterogeneous AutoRegressive), realised GARCH (Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity), Recurrent Conditional Heteroskedasticity (RECH), and the Rough Fractional Stochastic Volatility (RFSV) models. These models are specifically tailored to capture the complex dynamics and long-range dependence observed in financial time series. We illustrate the challenges and limitations of these models outside the context of established markets. Our empirical findings reveal unique strengths for each model. The HAR model excels in capturing long-term volatility patterns, while realised GARCH models effectively capture volatility clustering and persistence. RECH model showcases their ability to forecast Value-at-Risk, while the RFSV model successfully captures irregular and long-memory characteristics. We provide empirical evidence that the South African financial market is rough. Moreover, this study provides valuable insights into forecasting realised volatility in the South African market, and the findings can assist practitioners and investors in making informed decisions and developing robust risk management strategies.

Fashion forward: insights into the style choices of South African Generation Y

Fashion is a multifaceted and dynamic phenomenon that permeates various aspects of consumption, reflecting society's constant inclination towards change. The fashion industry, a significant contributor to both global and South African economies, operates in a dynamic and fast-paced environment marked by intense competition and evolving consumer preferences. Young adult consumers, currently encompassing members of Generation Y, play a pivotal role in driving social change and shaping fashion trends, making them a crucial market segment for the fashion industry. This paper aims to explore fashion trends among South African Generation Y consumers to gain insights into their style choices for market segmentation purposes. By reviewing existing literature, this research seeks to uncover the distinctive fashion preferences and behaviours of South African Generation Y, shedding light on their conspicuous status consumption tendencies and fixation on style. Understanding the unique characteristics of this market segment will assist fashion marketers and retailers in effectively targeting and engaging Generation Y consumers in the South African fashion market.

Addressing Barriers To Trade Finance In African Markets: Opportunities For U.S. Partnership

Addressing Barriers To Trade Finance In African Markets: Opportunities For U.S. Partnership

The african continental free trade area (AFCFTA) as an opportunity for Algeria to expand into the African market

This study examines how Algeria can benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a model for economic cooperation among African countries. It includes an analysis of the importance of intra-African trade compared to global trade, then focuses on analyzing the foreign trade of Algeria. examining the nature and level of Algeria's foreign trade with Africa and the rest of the world during the period 2021-2023, as well as assessing the compatibility between Algerian exports and the needs of African countries. The study concludes by identifying several categories of goods that Algeria can export, and that the African market needs at the same time.

A Call for Afrocentric Decolonial Endogenous Marketing and Public Policy Research and Practice: Toward Sustainable Peace and Well-Being in African Societies

Africa experiences one-third of all conflicts globally, resulting in the diminishment of human, social, and economic well-being; high levels of insecurity; poverty; and disrupted marketing systems. Drawing on the experiences of African countries, the article illuminates the ways in which the slave trade and, later, the colonization of the African continent fomented the social and economic convulsions that continue to erupt into continuing cycles of social conflict. Today these are manifested in the neocolonial influence of public policy on the continent by international organizations, funding bodies, and local and international institutions that control the public policy discourse and resources. The authors argue that if marketing systems are to enhance well-being and reduce social conflict, marketing policy makers need to contest failed “external to Africa” policy frameworks and look to endogenous policies better suited to contemporary African challenges. A case study of Rwanda illuminates how endogenous, “home-grown” decolonial and Afrocentric policy can create enduring peace and improve marketing systems and well-being. The authors call for research at the nexus of public policy and African marketing systems that adopts decolonized, endogenous, and Afrocentric perspectives to address this lacuna in marketing and public policy research and practice.

Multivariate Optimization of a Green Microwave-Assisted Hydrogen Peroxide Digestion of Vegetable Oils and Subsequent Elemental Determination Via Inductively Coupled Plasma–Optical Emission Spectrometry

AbstractA microwave-assisted digestion technique based on dilute hydrogen peroxide (MW-AHPD) was developed for multielemental determination in vegetable oils. The determination of ten trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Sn, V, and Zn) was conducted via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) after digestion. The most influential parameters were investigated by using multivariate optimization tools (two-level full factorial and central composite design) with percent recovery as the chemometric response. The optimum conditions were 2.0 mol L−1 (H2O2]), 156 °C (digestion temperature), 0.1 g (sample mass) and 50 min (digestion time). Under the optimized conditions, the efficiency of digestion was evaluated based on the residual carbon content (RCC) of the final digests. The RCC values were very low, ranging from 0.84 to 1.60% (m/m). The greenness of the technique was evaluated using the Analytical Eco-scale, and the proposed method was considered an excellent green analysis method with a final score of 90. The accuracy of the optimized MW-AHPD was evaluated by spiking sunflower, olive, and peanut oils at concentrations of 2.5 and 5.0 μg L−1, and excellent recoveries between 90.3 and 107.3% were reported. The accuracy of the MW-AHPD method was compared with that of microwave-assisted digestion using concentrated HNO3, and there was no significant difference between the two methods. The limits of detection ranged from 0.026 to 14.6 μg L−1. On the other hand, the interday and intraday precisions were less than 6.67 and 6.96%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to determine the concentrations of trace elements in 5 vegetable oils on the South African market. Thus, MW-AHPD-ICP–OES is applicable for the determination of trace elements in vegetable oils.