Overview
Contents
The year 2020 was an exceptionally challenging year around the globe with the emergence and spread of Covid-19. However, despite it causing economic difficulties it was also a blessing in disguise for numerous regulated brokers, allowing them to grab the global forex trading community’s attention.
How was Forex Trading strengthened?
Forex trading, especially, saw substantial growth not only around the globe, but more especially across the African continent.
- Lockdowns around the globe
Governments around the world resorted to imposing lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus. Due to these, more people were confined to their homes to work remotely.
Numerous industries experienced high rates of unemployment and people were forced to seek other avenues to secure income. Due to this, a lot more people started exploring forex trading. - Improved Telecommunication
Access to the internet was increased substantially, especially in African countries that previously did not have access. Service providers used the pandemic to their advantage to branch out and offer more people access to the internet.
This allowed more people to sign-up on established electronic trading platforms that offered a connection to global financial markets. - Higher liquidity
With an influx of traders from around the world, it means that the forex market’s liquidity was boosted. Resulting in lower transaction costs, making it easier for anyone to trade forex at a lower cost, especially by making use of mobile trading.
What do the statistics show?
The African economy is showing substantial and accelerated growth despite the economic challenges that are faced. It remains one of the most lucrative destinations for foreign investment.
In a survey conducted by Forexsuggest.com, a global forex analysis platform which is based in Africa, there are numerous international companies who have already touched base in the African continent due to its investment potential.
There are also a great number of regulated, reputable forex brokers who have observed the ripe trading market in Africa and who are ready to harness the potential that it holds.
This offers traders, whether they are beginners or experts, with endless opportunities to engage in all financial markets in the world.
Popular brokers and their growth for 2020
To understand the growth that was experienced in 2020 in the forex market, it is necessary to view the rate of growth that some of the most popular, largest brokers experienced with the influx of traders that singed up during 2020.
- Exness experienced a growth of around 100% in trade volume, with most clients originating from the African region according to Sub-Saharan Director, Paul Margarites.
- XM.com grew 35% in the African market according to Head of Affiliates for the African Division, Christodoulos Avraamides.
- AvaTrade Head of Africa Affiliates, Elana Lautinka stated that across South Africa and all other channels, there was a 18.3% growth in NACS from 2019 to 2020 with a growth of 20.2% in Africa as a whole.
- CM Trading Head of African Growth, Ayrin Nifanov stated that a steady increase of approximately 22% in clients was experienced for 2020.
- Christoforos Panagiotou, Africa Regional Manager at Tickmill stated that there was an increase of 27.43% in Africa alone.
Final Thoughts
Even though retail forex trading in Africa represents a rather small segment in the global forex market, there is substantial growth which can be observed, especially in South Africa as it accounts for the largest forex trading volume in Africa.
