 COVID-19 And the african financial markets: Less infection, less economic impact ?Gaye Del Lo, Théophile Basséne and Babacar Séne Finance Research Letters, 2022, vol. 45, issue C Abstract: Has the relatively low number of COVID-19 cases and deaths saved Africa from the disease’s economic and financial consequences ? This article assesses the impact of the pandemic on the volatility of major African stock markets using a panel data model. Like other financial markets worldwide, Africa’s have been characterised by increased volatility during the pandemic. The markets appear to respond to the external shocks caused by the health crisis, and Google search volume activity related to the COVID-19 virus, which is treated here as a proxy for panic and fear, is associated with an increase in market volatility of around 7%. For health data, only increases in confirmed cases appear to impact the stability of African markets, and the relatively low fatality rate has had no influence on market dynamics. However, Political responses are associated with a drop in volatility, while the fear of global financial markets exacerbates it. These results have several implications in terms of risk management. Keywords: Coronavirus; Stock market; Volatility; Google trends; Panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:finlet:v:45:y:2022:i:c:s1544612321002294 DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2021.102148 Access Statistics for this article Finance Research Letters is currently edited by R. Gençay More articles in Finance Research Letters from Elsevier |
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