BlackRock, one of the world’s top asset managers, announced it would liquidate its iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs) worth $400 million over unprofitable business environments in Nigeria and Kenya, particularly the challenge of currency exchange and naira devaluation.
iShares Frontiers, which invested millions of dollars in emerging market equities in Nigeria and Kenya over the years, fixed its last trading day for March 31, 2025, when the extended liquidation is anticipated to conclude.
In a recent statement, iShares said, “The board of directors of the company approved a proposal to liquidate the fund. In light of persistent liquidity challenges in certain frontier markets, including among other things, delays or limits on repatriation of local currency, the board determined that it is in the best interest of the fund and its shareholders for the fund to liquidate.
“Currency conversions, including conversion of Nigeria’s currency, the naira, will impact the timing of the fund’s liquidation. As a result, the fund will enter into an extended liquidation period.
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“After market close no earlier than August 12, 2024, but on a date as soon as practicable, the fund will cease trading and the creation and redemption of creation units”, the statement concluded.
Recall that the company has liquidated $5.2 million of its shares in Kenyan companies like Safaricom ($2.8 million), Equity Group ($1.5 million), and KCB Group ($885,000), which are quoted on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
Meanwhile, the planned exit of BlackRock’s iShares is another dent in Nigeria’s economic scorecard as the one-year-old Bola Tinubu’s administration grapples with Nigeria’s dwindling economic fortunes.
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