Zimbabwe ended July as Africa’s best-performing equity market, overtaking Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, after months of sustained gains driven by easing inflation, a more stable domestic currency, and renewed investor appetite for local equities.

Data from African Markets, a real-time market intelligence platform, shows the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) returned 68.5 percent in US dollar terms year-to-date as of July 31, 2026, the highest among the 17 African exchanges tracked. Nigeria followed with 66.9 percent, Ghana with 57.6 percent, while Tunisia posted 46.3 percent and Tanzania had 40.5 percent.

Malawi, which topped Africa’s performance rankings last year, has slipped into negative territory with a 15.9 percent decline. In local currency terms, however, Ghana remains the strongest performer, followed closely by Zimbabwe.

The Southern African nation’s ascent caps a reversal in leadership. Nigeria had dominated the continent’s stock market performance rankings for much of 2026, buoyed by banking-sector gains, stable naira and improving macroeconomic sentiment, before Zimbabwe overtook it in the last week of July. With an all share index of 480.8, the country is amongst the least in terms of index value.

Zimbabwe’s rally is also part of a broader resurgence in African equities. According to another market intelligence platform Mansa Markets, 11 of the 17 African stock indices it tracks are outperforming the S&P 500’s 9.3 percent return in dollar terms this year, highlighting renewed investor…