One of the biggest asset managers in the world, BlackRock, said it would liquidate its $400 million worth of iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs) due to unfavourable business conditions in Kenya and Nigeria, including the difficulty of currency exchange and naira devaluation.
The last trading day of iShares Frontiers, which over the years invested millions of dollars in developing market shares in Kenya and Nigeria, is scheduled for March 31, 2025, the day the delayed liquidation is expected to end.
In a recent statement, iShares said, “The board of directors of the company approved a proposal to liquidate the fund. In light of persistent liquidity challenges in certain frontier markets, including among other things, delays or limits on repatriation of local currency, the board determined that it is in the best interest of the fund and its shareholders for the fund to liquidate.
What Multiple Exchange Rates Have Done To Naira – Moghalu
“Currency conversions, including conversion of Nigeria’s currency, the naira, will impact the timing of the fund’s liquidation. As a result, the fund will enter into an extended liquidation period.
“After market close no earlier than August 12, 2024, but on a date as soon as practicable, the fund will cease trading and the creation and redemption of creation units”, the statement concluded.
Remember that the corporation liquidated $5.2 million of its shares in Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE-quoted) companies like as Equity Group ($1.5 million), KCB Group ($885,000), and Safaricom ($2.8 million).
As the one-year-old Bola Tinubu administration struggles to turn around Nigeria’s declining economic fortunes, the anticipated exit of BlackRock’s iShares is another blemish on the country’s economic scorecard.
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