According to the latest Hendersen Global Dividend Index published on August 18, South African firms among the 1,200 largest capitalizations, have distributed $2.6bn of dividends in Q2 2016 (April-June). Other African nations listed in the ranking, Morocco and Egypt knowingly, paid no dividend over the period considered. South Africa thus beat China which paid only $1.5bn.

Each year, the investment firm Henderson Global Investor produces a report on dividends paid by the world’s 1,200 largest market capitalizations. In South Africa and everywhere else in the world, dividends paid grew slightly, despite a challenging environment for investment.

Overall, all listed firms distributed $422bn to their shareholders, thus increasing by $9 billion compared to Q2 2015. France pushed by Sanofi (2^nd) and BNP Paribas (10^th) came second in the ranking, with close to $40bn of dividends paid over the period considered, far behind the USA ($101bn), but ahead of Germany ($31.5bn) and Japan ($30.8bn).

However let’s note that in South Africa, the most important investors of the JSE are European or American investment funds, or Chinese investment vehicles. The study gives no detail about dividend received by fully African investors.

Idriss Linge