FTSE Russell has announced in its September 2019 Country-Classification Review that Tanzania has been assigned Frontier Market status, commencing in the FTSE Frontier annual review in September 2020.

Tanzania only spent a year on the Watch List, having been added in September 2018 for possible inclusion as a Frontier Market. FTSE Russell have assessed the market and concluded that it meets the five FTSE Quality of Markets criteria necessary for it to be included in the Frontier Market indexes.

Dr Elinami Minja, Chairman of the DSE Board said: “This is a great achievement for the market and the country, we not only need to maintain this status and higher, but most importantly exploit what it brings to the Exchange”.

The number of African countries classified by FTSE as a Frontier Market will increase to eight, as Tanzania will join the likes of Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, It will move from “unclassified” to Frontier Market status in September 2020. The reclassification will be completed in one tranche.

FTSE Russell have also announced the following:

• Argentina has been removed from the Watch List for possible reclassification from Frontier to Secondary Emerging Market status.
• Vietnam remains on the Watch List as a Frontier Market.
• Romania has been reclassified from Frontier to Secondary Emerging Market status.