2022 was the worst year for global equities and bonds in over a decade.
Interest rate hikes by most central banks to fight record-high inflation, and the fear of a global recession, led to selloffs in riskier and less stable emerging and frontier markets.
Key takeaways:
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The Nigerian stock exchange (NGX) defied all odds as it appreciated by 19.9% in 2022, even as global equity markets lost heavily amid global interest rate hikes.
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The primary driver of the positive performance in 2022 (which should persist in 2023) was a lack of foreign investor participation.
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With sustained domestic investor dominance in the NGX and barring any post-election chaos, 2023 should be another positive year.
For instance, the MSCI All-Country World Index (ACWI) shed 19.8% in 2022. The MSCI ACWI is a benchmark for global equity funds and tracks almost 3,000 stocks in 48 developed and emerging market countries.
But in the middle of this global equity market bloodshed, the second-largest stock exchange in Africa appreciated by 19.9%.
This particular stock market withstood storms. Plagues even. They included: persistently high domestic inflation, foreign exchange (fx) illiquidity, aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks (local and global) and even pre-election jitters.
Typically, these negative factors would have dampened investors’ confidence in the economy and, by extension, the stock market. As such, they (investors) would exit the market, leading to a bearish run (negative performance). But not this market; this market stood tall in the face of adversity.
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