Bloomberg highlighted the important role of the
ADBF as it enhances liquidity and transparency in the government debt market.
AFMI chairman and AfDB vice president Charles Boamah commented at the time: "The
ADBF aims to stimulate the development of African domestic bond markets through the provision of an innovative and efficient product in the form of an enhanced Index Bond Fund to broaden investor's participation."
The
ADBF seeks to reduce Africa's dependency on foreign currency-denominated debt and encourage the deepening of domestic bond markets besides enlarging the investor base in domestic bond markets.
The ADBF was conceived as part of the AfDB's African Financial Markets Initiative in 2008.
AfDB is leading the establishment of the ADBF as a sovereign fixed income ETF investing in different countries which will be the first time an institution of this kind is established in Africa.
Scoles, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Disease Research Unit, 3003
ADBF, US Department of Agriculture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6630, USA; email: scoles@vetmed.wsu.edu Table 1.