Co-movement of Cryptocurrencies and African Stocks Returns

Recent studies on the valuable role of cryptocurrencies in portfolio diversification and risk management for advanced stock indices highlight no or weak connection between the markets which provides hedging and diversification benefits for global equity investors. What is lacking in the literature is whether a similar relationship holds for African stocks. Even though the African stock market is open to both domestic and international investors the relationship between African stocks and cryptocurrencies remains unexplored. From a macroeconomic perspective there are reasons to believe that the behaviour of cryptocurrencies may vary internationally as studies have documented the independence of cryptocurrencies in monetary policy. This motivated an investigation into the behaviour of cryptocurrencies relative to African stock markets as monetary policy uncertainty is country-specific. From an economic development perspective overexposure to cryptocurrencies can reduce the “depth” and “width” of national stock markets as the excessive volatility of cryptocurrency prices translates into riskier and more expensive equity financing for local firms.