Due to rising commodity prices, the absence of IPO transactions across Africa in 2022 contrasts sharply with trading levels in the Middle East region, new listings flourished in 2022.

First-time IPO activity on African exchanges has virtually stopped, amid a sharp decline in the global initial public offering (IPO) market in 2022. Indeed, the drop in transactions is not only caused by the 2022 market conditions. In reality, the headwinds that the market experienced in 2022 pushed activity levels to their lowest levels.

Despite the bearish forecast for floats in the region in 2023, there are bright spots for the deals appearing with the final weeks of 2022, seeing an increasing number of businesses file bids. The African IPO market has since experienced a period of steady annual decline until the end of 2020, with trading volume and the combined value of trades dropping to a level of just seven trades worth a combined $644 million, according to data from pwc. This a after peaking in 2017 with transaction proceeds totaling $3,083 million on 30 floats.