Africa: The LSF welcomes the Launch of the First African Government Bond (USD) ETF available in Europe

What the report says

The Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF) said it welcomed the launch of the L&G LSF African Government Bond (USD) UCITS ETF, a fund developed by Legal & General Asset Management. According to the LSF’s press release, the product is the first exchange-traded fund of its kind available in Europe and is based on the iBoxx LSF USD African Sovereigns Index.

The announcement, published on 6 August 2026 and distributed by AllAfrica, presents the ETF as the latest step in the LSF’s wider effort to make African sovereign debt more accessible to global investors. The facility said it has been working with African and international partners to address illiquid secondary markets, which can make borrowing more expensive for African issuers.

The LSF said the index was created with S&P Dow Jones Indices and launched in June 2024, using a proprietary selection and curation process to provide a standardized benchmark for investors. It argued that turning the benchmark into a public-market ETF could improve transparency, broaden participation and support trading activity in African sovereign Eurobond markets.

For context, index funds and ETFs are often used to package exposure in a tradable form, which can make specialized markets easier for investors to access. The LSF described the launch as a milestone in efforts to deepen African capital markets and lower financing costs, while also citing support from partners including Afreximbank.