Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Finance & Investment in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management Wits Business School at the University of the Witwatersrand 2017 / There are 29 formal stock exchanges on the African continent with 23 based in sub-Saharan Africa. The pace and stage of stock market development has varied among most of the countries as only four stock markets have more than 50 listed stocks; five have at least 20 listed stocks; and the remaining 14 have less than 20 stocks. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) stands out in Africa as by far the continent’s largest, most liquid and best regulated market and is home to some of the continent’s largest and most sophisticated companies. Cross listing refers to the listing of ordinary shares of a firm on an exchange other than the stock exchange in its registered jurisdiction. There are 24 JSE listed companies that have cross listed on other Sub-Saharan African stock exchanges. The bulk of these, (14), have cross listed on the Namibia Stock Exchange, 3 cross listed on Botswana Stock Exchange, 1 on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, 1 on the Ghanaian Stock Exchange, 3 on the Malawian Stock Exchange, 1 on the Zambian Stock Exchange and 1 on the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange. The study establishes the possible reasons and benefits of cross listing on other sub-Saharan exchanges for JSE listed companies. The study also provides insight into the possible effects, (financial as well as any others), of cross listing on other sub-Saharan African exchanges that a number of JSE listed entities have experienced. The study uses financial information collected from a public platform, (Sharedata), to compute financial ratio’s to determine the financial implications of the JSE companies cross listing on other sub-Saharan exchanges. The effects of cross listing on the JSE companies are then measured using latent growth curve modelling and a paired t test. The study concludes that there is no evidence to suggest that there are financial benefits for JSE listed companies to cross list on other sub-Saharan exchanges. The study further suggests that JSE listed companies should rather consider cross listing for qualitative reasons rather for any quantitative reasons. / MT2017

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2017. / The extent to which the liquidity has an impact on stock return continues to be an eagerly researched topic. The effect on liquidity on the return of stocks has been a greatly debated subject on the capital market theory. The thesis looks at the impact of liquidity on the stock indices return of eight frontier markets. The paper uses two methods to estimate the regression namely, unbalanced dynamic panel Generalised Method of Moments and Fixed Effect Model. An analysis on factors affecting liquidity was done and turnover ratio, Amivest ratio and Amihud ratio were used as a measure for liquidity. The correlation between stock return and the liquidity measure was mixed; with turnover ratio having a negative correlation. Amivest ratio has positive relationship consistent with the risk premium and was found to be significant. However, the correlation on the Amihud ratio was not consistent with the liquidity premium as it was found to be positive. Although negatively correlated to return, the turnover ratio was found to be insignificant. / MT 2017

The literature investigating the relationship between stock market returns and inflation is long and has produced diverse findings. This thesis examines the nature of stock–inflation relations in Sub-Saharan countries whose stock markets were established before 1992. Evidence in this thesis shows that in the short term there is a positive relationship between stocks and inflation. Using the Johansen (1988) evidence, a long-run stock–inflation relationship is confirmed only in Nigeria and South Africa, where it is found to be negative. However, accounting for structural breaks provides evidence for a long-run relationship in Botswana, Ghana and Kenya. The evidence of the effects of regimes in the relationship is further supported by a nonparametric cointegration analysis which finds a long-run relation in countries where the Johansen (1988) method had failed. Unexpected inflation is also found to be related to stock returns in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Mauritius, which raises concerns about the use of month-end stock data in analysing this relationship. The thesis confirms the existence of hidden inflation in Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Imported inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate are found to have useful information about inflation movements in Sub-Saharan Africa.