Egypt's first ETF opens new gateway to Africa

Egypt’s first ETF opens new gateway to Africa

Last month, the launch of the first exchange traded fund tracking Egypt's EGX30 index was announced. The XT-MISR ETF is the product of eight years' of work between the country's regulator and Beltone Financial, which launched the fund.

Egypt has had to overcome several regulatory hurdles in order to be able to offer an ETF. The country’s financial regulator had to establish a market marker which could borrow stocks. The clearing house had to create links between the market maker and asset managers to manage redemptions and create the ETF. “That was quite a formidable task,” explained Aladdin Saba, chairman of Beltone Financial. He believes Egypt needs an ETF product because many investors have lost touch with the market since the beginning of the political turmoil which has troubled the country since January 2011...