Top 10 African Stock Exchanges with the Best Corporate Governance Scores in 2025

In Summary:

• Strong corporate governance drives investor confidence, transparency, and long-term capital market growth across African stock exchanges.
• South Africa, Mauritius, Ghana, and Morocco lead due to advanced disclosure standards and strong regulatory frameworks.
• Smaller markets like Botswana and Zambia show that size is not a barrier to effective governance practices.
• High governance scores support deeper liquidity, foreign investment inflows, and sustainable market development.

Deep Dive!!

Monday, 22 December 2025 – Corporate governance quality is crucial for investor confidence, market depth, and long-term capital market development. Strong governance practices, including transparency, disclosure standards, minority shareholder protection and regulatory frameworks, help attract institutional and foreign investment, reduce risk for issuers and enhance overall financial stability. In Africa’s developing equity markets, exchanges that score highly on governance indicators are generally better positioned to foster sustainable growth and market participation. Recent data from the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index (AFMI) 2025 and the OECD Africa Capital Markets Report 2025 show marked differences in corporate governance performance across the continent, offering a basis to compare relative strengths.

Strong governance frameworks do more than improve transparency; they help capital markets grow by reducing risk, enhancing trust, and enabling issuers to attract long-term investors. Robust disclosure standards and investor protections contribute to deeper liquidity, better valuations and engagement from institutional players such as pension funds and international asset managers. Effective governance also supports sustainable development goals by aligning markets with global best practices and ESG expectations.

The rankings below draw on composite governance scores, transparency indicators, reporting standards and regulatory quality that are reported at the national market level. High scores reflect stronger disclosure standards, corporate reporting frameworks, investor protections and ESG-related governance practices. These rankings highlight markets where governance metrics help underpin performance, deepen investor trust and support broader capital-market development in Africa.

10. Botswana Stock Exchange

The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) earns a top-ten spot with a solid governance performance that reflects structural stability and improving transparency among listed firms. Botswana’s market benefits from clear regulatory frameworks and ongoing efforts to align reporting standards with international norms. While not as large as some peers, BSE’s governance environment contributes to steady market confidence and sustainable investor protections.

BSE’s score is supported by consistent disclosure practices among listed companies and the exchange’s gradual adoption of stronger governance recommendations. For Botswana, maintaining governance standards helps attract long-term investors seeking reliable frameworks in smaller emerging markets.

9. Zambia’s Lusaka Securities Exchange

Zambia’s Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) shares the same overall governance score as Botswana, underscoring its conscientious approach to transparency and corporate disclosure. LuSE’s performance in governance is strengthened by efforts from the Zambia Securities and Exchange Commission to encourage improved issuer reporting and compliance with global standards.

Enhanced corporate reporting standards and ongoing dialogue with issuers have helped LuSE build investor confidence, especially among institutional segments. While market size remains relatively modest, governance metrics suggest an environment conducive to steady capital-market growth.

8. Zimbabwe Stock Exchange

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) shows notable corporate governance performance relative to many peers, scoring higher than several larger markets. ZSE’s strength comes from relatively comprehensive reporting standards and transparency practices that help issuers communicate effectively with investors.

Despite macroeconomic challenges that have affected trading volumes and liquidity, governance metrics position the ZSE as a market where regulatory expectations and corporate disclosure norms support investor oversight and systemic resilience.

7. Morocco’s Casablanca Stock Exchange

The Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) ranks well for corporate governance, buoyed by robust reporting requirements and institutional frameworks that advance transparency and stakeholder engagement. Moroccan regulators continue to encourage improved governance disclosures and ESG-related practices, helping sustain confidence among foreign and domestic investors.

CSE’s governance score reflects advanced corporate reporting standards and relatively strong protections for shareholder interests, key components in building a credible and investor-friendly market environment across North Africa.

6. Nigeria’s Nigerian Exchange Group

The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) has achieved a high corporate governance score, thanks in part to enhanced transparency requirements and improved reporting standards among its listed companies. Governance evaluations highlight Nigeria’s progress in disclosure and investor communications, even as other market metrics like liquidity and diversification continue to evolve.

NGX’s strength in governance supports its role as a key financial hub in West Africa, helping it attract institutional flows and maintain credibility despite broader macroeconomic challenges.

5. Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) demonstrates strong corporate governance performance, with notable progress in reporting standards and investor protections. Kenyan regulators emphasize improved governance practices, although periodic declines in some governance sub-metrics reflect ongoing adaptation to international best practices.

NSE’s governance environment is buttressed by active engagement from issuers and authoritative oversight by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which continues to refine governance codes and implementation approaches.

4. Ghana Stock Exchange

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) ranks highly for corporate governance, driven by strong disclosure standards, transparency practices and proactive regulatory frameworks. Ghana’s market has made meaningful strides in financial information transparency and corporate reporting, contributing to improved investor confidence.

Progressive governance practices, including regular reporting enhancements and ESG-related considerations, position GSE as a leading market for governance norms in West Africa.

3. Mauritius Stock Exchange

The Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) stands out for its governance framework, reflecting high reporting standards, strong disclosure norms and institutional commitment to shareholder protections. SEM attracts diverse issuers and prioritizes investor confidence through rigorous corporate governance expectations.

Mauritius’s regulatory and market environment supports governance excellence, helping the exchange maintain credibility and attract capital from both regional and global participants.

2. South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Topping Africa’s corporate governance rankings is the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), widely recognised for corporate compliance, investor protections and high standards of transparency. South African governance frameworks, such as the King IV Code, are among the most advanced on the continent, mandating comprehensive disclosures, board independence and sustainability reporting.

JSE’s governance leadership extends to environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration, financial disclosure practices and regulatory oversight, making it a benchmark for other African markets and a key destination for institutional investment.

1. Egypt’s Egyptian Exchange

While several sources place Egypt slightly lower than South Africa in some governance sub-dimensions, multi-index analyses show the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) performing at a high level in critical governance indicators such as shareholder rights, corporate reporting and transparency. On broader composite indices that incorporate World Bank shareholder rights metrics, EGX often ranks with top scorers alongside South Africa and Mauritius.

Egypt’s governance rating reflects a historical commitment to disclosure and investor protections, anchored by a larger and more diverse issuer base than most African markets outside South Africa. The EGX’s inclusion at the top of governance tables underscores its significance in regional capital markets development.

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