A new African sovereign bond exchange-traded fund has launched with up to $250 million in commitments. Its backers are betting it can help unlock a much bigger market for African sovereign debt and help reduce borrowing costs. Managed by Legal & General, the ETF tracks an African sovereign bond index created by S&P Dow Jones Indices and the Afreximbank-backed Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF). An ETF is a pooled investment that trades like a stock, in this case giving institutional investors diversified exposure to African dollar-denominated government bonds. The market needs to reach roughly $1 billion to achieve the critical mass needed to deepen trading, according to Songwe.