Weekly Market Update - 3 June 2024

Telecoms In Africa

Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani is set to enter Africa with a telecoms venture, seeking to win mobile broadband customers in a high-growth market. Radisys, a unit of Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, will provide key network infrastructure, applications and smartphones for Ghana-based Next-Gen InfraCo., according to Harkirit Singh, the executive director of NGIC. Operations are due to begin by the end of this year. The company is looking to emulate the success of Ambani’s Jio Infocomm in India, which was widely credited for making mobile data affordable to hundreds of million of Indians.

Inflows To China

Money managers ploughed into exchange-traded funds tracking Chinese stocks for the second straight week, fueling a sharp turnaround after months of outflows amid new government measures to boost market confidence. China recorded the largest inflows across emerging-market countries for the week ended May 24, totaling $610.3 million, much of which came through the broad iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF. The fund saw $1.07 billion in inflows last week, the largest since April 2022. The latest measures to rescue China’s property sector and more action to support its economy, particularly on the fiscal side, have driven investors to re-position their portfolios and add back exposure to Chinese assets.

Source: Bloomberg

Jio Financial Services’ New Super App

Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Financial Services has introduced a new super-app for digital banking and payment services that will take on competitors like Google and Amazon in a crowded Indian market. The firm announced the test version of its platform, JioFinance, for UPI transactions, bill settlements and insurance-related services. The financial arm of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate plans to expand into mutual fund loans and mortgage lending. Asia’s richest man’s latest initiative comes as rival Adani Group is also reportedly in talks to expand into e-commerce and payments.

Source: Bloomberg