Africa

Africa is the fastest-growing retail trading region and the least evenly regulated. A handful of countries license brokers to a real standard; across most of the continent there is no retail forex framework at all, and residents open accounts with offshore firms.

Where there is genuine regulation

• South Africa. The FSCA licenses financial service providers, and an ODP licence is specifically required to issue over-the-counter derivatives to clients. Several major international brokers hold one. This is the most developed regime on the continent.
• Kenya. The Capital Markets Authority licenses online forex brokers under a dedicated framework, with both dealing and non-dealing categories, and a short list of licensees.
• Mauritius and Seychelles. Both license large numbers of brokers, but as offshore financial centres serving clients elsewhere rather than as domestic markets. Their licences carry lower capital requirements and lighter supervision than the two above.

Where there is not

In most African countries the securities regulator supervises listed markets and the central bank supervises banking, and neither addresses retail margin FX. The practical position is that trading is not prohibited and not protected: a resident may open an offshore account, and if that broker refuses a withdrawal there is no local authority with jurisdiction. Several regulators — in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and elsewhere — have issued public warnings about unlicensed platforms without creating a licensing route.

Payments

Mobile money is the region's decisive advantage. M-Pesa in Kenya and Tanzania, and equivalent services across West and Southern Africa, let traders fund and withdraw without a bank account, and brokers serving the region integrate them directly. Where mobile money is unavailable, cards frequently fail on cross-border transactions and the alternatives are slower.

Currency controls

Several countries restrict access to foreign currency, and the gap between official and parallel rates can exceed any trading cost. Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe have all seen sharp moves in that gap. Converting local currency to a dollar account and back is often the largest single expense of trading from the region.

Choosing carefully

The concentration of aggressive marketing, signal-selling and outright fraud aimed at African traders is higher than anywhere else. Check the licence on the issuing regulator's own register, prefer a firm regulated somewhere with a functioning complaints process, and treat any promise of guaranteed returns as disqualifying.