I’ve got an ambivalent relationship with Twitter.
I love it for the content it alerts me to, for its immediacy, and for its ability to break down social and geographic barriers between people.
But when I get caught in an eddy of vapid, 140-character updates on food eaten, locations present in, and photos taken, I start to suspect that there would be more productive, enjoyable uses of my time. Like dusting my houseplants. Or listening to a public radio fund drive. Or dusting my houseplants while listening to a public radio fund drive.
I admit to some snobbishness here. Social interaction and serendipitous discovery is the joy of Twitter to many users.
But I am not one of them.
I’m instead drawn to tweeps who carefully curate their Twitter stream – sticking to a specific topic, taking care not to monopolize the conversation, and keeping personal updates to a minimum.
12 Tweeps to Follow
With those criteria in mind, I’ve compiled a list of 12 Twitter users that consistently post high-quality content of interest to investors in African stock markets. Here they are in alphabetical order with an example of a typical tweet.
1. African Financials — @AfricaFinancial
Follow this stream to stay on top of financial results released by African firms. There’s no commentary in the stream, just a notice whenever a new annual report has been added to their extensive collection.
Tanzania Breweries Limited – 2011 http://t.co/2GDRaMG9 http://t.co/V9KvXjgj #Africa
— AfricanFinancials.com (@Africafinancial) June 22, 2012
2. Ecobank Research — @EcobankResearch
The research team at one of Africa’s fastest growing banks maintains a helpful stream that focuses on African currency movements and commodity prices.
GHS down 1.0% vs USD last week despite a 50bp increase in the policy rate to 15.0% on 13 June http://t.co/qAx9g9Nr
— Ecobank Research (@EcobankResearch) June 19, 2012
3. Genghis Capital Ltd. — @genghiscapital
This Kenyan stockbroker is one of the most interactive on Twitter. A talented research team encourages questions from Nairobi Securities Exchange investors.
What are your sentiments on Centum stock? While 2012 numbers are down, the business continues to show massive potential for growth.
— Genghis Capital Ltd. (@genghiscapital) June 19, 2012
4. HowWeMadeItInAfrica — @madeitinafrica
The fantastic website’s Twitter feed highlights some of its most thought-provoking articles on how to do business in Africa.
Four reasons why foreign investors fail in #Africa http://t.co/XzdN08hu via @madeitinafrica
— HowWeMadeItInAfrica (@MadeItInAfrica) June 22, 2012
5. Jonathan Kruger — @InvestorPumba
Jonathan manages the Prescient Africa Equity Fund and maintains a very focused Twitter stream on developments in Nigerian, Kenyan, Mauritian, and North African markets.
How are #Africa ex SA Funds (managed from South Africa) performing? #Prescient Investment Management 4th. http://t.co/fEpoM80D #AfricaFund
— Jonathan Kruger (@SpeedyJono) June 21, 2012
6. Keith McLachlan — @keithmclachlan
An expert on South African small-cap stocks, Keith’s a must-follow for anyone interested in digging up gems on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
J&M Equities now owns 17% of 1time! The difference between calculated optimism and just pure hope is the risk-adjusted returns..
— Keith McLachlan (@keithmclachlan) June 14, 2012
7. Olufemi Awoyemi — @olufemiawoyemi
The founder of the popular Nigerian website, Proshare, Olufemi is an astute observer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Will there be a revival in the IPO markets soon? http://t.co/jcKuBAt2
— Olufemi AWOYEMI (@OlufemiAwoyemi) June 19, 2012
8. Razia Khan — @RaziaKKhan
The head of Standard Chartered Bank’s Africa research team, economist Razia Khan shares her insights on African economies and welcomes interaction with Twitter followers.
Anyone have a good explanation for why Kenya has one of the worst external balances in the world? A) accurate B) if yes – why?
— Razia Khan (@raziakkhan) June 23, 2012
9. Saxum Zimbabwe — @saxum_zimbabwe
Interested in the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange? Then this purveyor of Zimbabwean financial data is a must-follow.
Locally owned Zim banks have high loan-deposit ratios around 85%. International banks in Zim e.g around 40%.
— Saxum (@SaxumAct) June 18, 2012
10. Schmooze FM — @schmoozefm
Schmooze FM is a Kickstarter-like platform that allows small and medium-sized businesses located in frontier markets to raise capital from small investors around the world. The company’s Twitter stream does a great job of retweeting interesting content of interest to frontier investors.
Looking to Frontier Markets for Next Big Thing in Investing http://t.co/Uo0ZKlnM
— Schmooze FM (@SchmoozeFM) May 8, 2012
11. The EIU Africa Team — @theEIU_Africa
The Economist Intelligence Unit shares its latest findings which are especially helpful with regard to Africa’s political context and risks.
US restores $350m #Malawi aid programme: boosts Ms Banda's credentials but managing aid influx will be a challenge. http://t.co/fxtYAP8F
— The EIU Africa team (@TheEIU_Africa) June 22, 2012
12. Tom Minney — @africancapital
The former head of the Namibian Stock Exchange, Tom boasts a wealth of experience building and writing about African capital markets.
The brightest and best of African banking – emotion as Ekpe wins lifetime achievement, applause for Eleni of ECX http://t.co/w3rqtub9
— Tom Minney (@africancapital) June 7, 2012
Who Did I Miss?
I follow nearly 150 people on Twitter. Each of them provides excellent content, so deciding who to include on this list was far from easy. In the end, it came down to who provided the most relevant content most consistently, but I’m sure I’ve missed some who deserve to be included here. Do you know of one? Let us know your favorite Africa investment tweep in the comments!
Well, you missed Aly Khan Satchu @alykhansatchu of Rich Management in Kenya. He is an authority in EA and specifically Kenyan markets. Nairobi Securities Exchange @NSEKenya ; and @Bankelele who gives rankings of Kenyan banks.
Yep! Thanks, Jug. All are great Kenyan market tweeps. I should add @coldtusker to that group, too!
And @whiteafrican…
True. There’s no better expert on info technology and development than @whiteafrican. He didn’t make the above list, though, because his focus is not on African capital markets.
WOW!!!! Thanks for the list. I had held off on joining Twitter for the reasons you mentioned above. Just this past weekend, I finally decided to join, also for the reasons you listed. It is a good way to streamline the type of information I am looking for. I don’t care that LeBron James has 5 million followers. I am not one of them, nor do I plan to be, but links to good information on the economic developments in Africa get my attention.
Glad you found it helpful, C.C. With a little selectivity, Twitter can be an excellent source of niche-focused news. Enjoy!
@SSA_PEnVC covers News and intel in the sub Sahara African market pretty well.
Great find, Nenyi. Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who contributed! I’ll add a handful to the list
African Exchanges @africanstockexh
Annual Reports Ghana @annualreportsgh
African Investor @AfricanInvestor
SEC Nigeria @SECNigeria
CNBC Africa @cnbcafrica
We invest in Africa and share our thoughts on @silk_invest
Thanks for putting together this list!
Some fantastic suggestions here. Who has more?
These are v helpful suggestions – thank you
Hopefully ours may be useful @Rencapman .. but tweets are not just about Africa
@NigeriaNewsdesk
@ReutersAfrica