As the dust of currency devaluations in two major African markets settles, the Mazi Asset Management Prime Africa Equity fund is betting on strong earnings growth following a depressed performance over the past two years.
With R1.29bn in assets under management (AUM) at the end of April, the fund lost over R300m in the preceding three months as the Nigerian naira and Egyptian pound devaluations hurt its investments.
As a result, the fund lost 14.7% over the 12 months that ended April 2024, compared with its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets ex-South Africa index, which contracted 2.45%. Over five years, the fund lost an annualised 0.99% compared with its benchmark’s 1.82% annualised gain.
