Botswana and Namibia will be included in the AfDB/ AFMI Bloomberg African Bond Index (ABABI) in October 2015, the African Development Bank has announced.

Stefan Nalletamby, Director of the AfDB’s Financial Sector Development Department, said: "As more African countries are increasingly looking to domestic capital markets to source much-needed financing for economic development, we are delighted to welcome Botswana and Namibia to the index and expect to include more countries to it as soon as reliable pricing information is made available.”

ABABI was launched in February this year by the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI).

Calculated by Bloomberg Indices, the composite index is currently comprised of the Bloomberg South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya local currency sovereign indices.

With an addition of two more countries, ABABI will include the six most liquid sovereign bond markets in Africa and three sub-indices for different maturity ranges.

To be included in the index, a security must have at least one year remaining to maturity and withstand price stability tests.

The AFMI works to deepen the continent’s local currency bond markets and also strives to create an environment where African countries can access financing at variable terms.

By providing transparent and credible benchmark indices, the AfDB/AFMI Bloomberg African Bond Index provides investors with a tool with which to measure and track the performance of Africa’s bond markets.

The composite index is available to Bloomberg Professional service subscribers via {BADB Index}.