The South Africa country-specific exchange traded fund jumped Thursday, following a victory for the business friendly and reform-minded African National Congress in the country’s general election
The iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (NYSEArca: EZA) rose 2.0% Thursday. EZA has surged 16.4% over the past three months and is up 5.2% year-to-date.
After the about 80% of the results, the ANC had 63% of the tally, and observers believe that the ANC will use the mandate to push through a National Development Plan, BBC reports.
The government plans on implementing “radical economic transformation” to support a class of black industrialists, according to a IOL Business article.
The ANC will promote programs to build infrastructure, develop industry and buy goods and services locally to aid black entrepreneurs, Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba said.
“Over the next 20 years we are going to pursue more radical economic programs so that we can change the ownership patterns of the economy,” Gigaba said in the IOL article.
Meanwhile, the South African rand currency appreciated 1.3% against the U.S. dollar, trading around 10.3241 per USD, the strongest since late December. [A Surprising ETF Safe Haven]
Along with EZA, ETF investors can gain exposure to South African markets through broad emerging market fund products. For instance, the he SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa ETF (NYSEArca: GAF) has a hefty 92.9% weight in South Africa and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets EMEA ETF (NYSEArca: EEME) allocates 43.9% of holdings to South Africa.
iShares MSCI South Africa ETF
For more information on South Africa, visit our South Africa category.