LAGOS, Sept 14 – JPMorgan is set to launch its long-awaited GBI-EM Edge index by the end of September, creating a new benchmark for nearly $330 billion of local-currency government debt across 26 frontier economies.
The index, detailed in JPMorgan’s Global Index Research report dated September 14, 2026, comes almost two decades after the bank introduced its hard-currency NEXGEM frontier-market index.
Among the countries expected to carry the largest weightings are Egypt, Vietnam, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Several of these markets have experienced strong bond-market rallies following periods of economic and financial stress.
The World Bank estimates that frontier economies account for about one-fifth of the global population, but attract only 3.1% of global capital flows and contribute less than 5% of worldwide GDP.
Their demographic importance is expected to increase significantly. Frontier-market populations are projected to expand by roughly 800 million people over the next 25 years, more than the population growth expected across the rest of the world combined.
The creation of a major local-currency debt benchmark could therefore increase international investor exposure to these markets while supporting the development of deeper domestic bond markets.
Local-currency financing has long been encouraged by institutions including the World Bank and IMF as a way for emerging and frontier economies to reduce exposure to foreign-currency debt. Governments that borrow heavily in dollars or other hard currencies can face significantly higher repayment burdens when their domestic currencies depreciate.
Africa Set for Major Representation
JPMorgan’s new benchmark will include bonds with a minimum equivalent value of $250 million and at least 2.5 years remaining to maturity. No individual country will be allowed to account for more than 8% of the index.
African markets will make up almost 45% of the benchmark, while frontier Asian markets, led by Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, will represent nearly one-third.
Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Bangladesh are each expected to receive the maximum 8% country weighting.
The index is also expected to include Zambia, despite earlier concerns that its relatively small domestic bond market could prevent it from meeting JPMorgan’s $250 million minimum issue-size requirement. Recent efforts to increase the size of its government bonds have enabled the country to qualify.
The development is particularly significant for countries seeking to attract foreign investors into domestic debt markets. Last week, Angola’s finance minister said the prospect of inclusion in the new benchmark was among the factors encouraging the country to explore ways of opening its $18.6 billion domestic government bond market more widely to international investors.
Higher Yields Draw Investor Interest
JPMorgan has been developing the index for several years amid growing investor demand for higher-yielding frontier-market debt.
Thomas Christiansen, head of emerging-market fixed income at UBP in London, said the index reflects the growing recognition of frontier economies as a distinct investment opportunity.
“I don’t think this index would have been possible 10 years ago,” Christiansen said. “People are waking up to the fact that these markets are really interesting and help diversify portfolios.”
The new index will track approximately $330 billion of local-currency debt. Its nominal yield is estimated at almost 10.4%, around 440 basis points above the yield of the mainstream emerging-market local-currency bond index.
Back-testing indicates that the GBI-EM Edge would have generated annualised returns about 1.2 percentage points higher than the mainstream benchmark over the past nine years.
JPMorgan said many of the markets included in the index resemble the core emerging markets of the early 2000s, characterised by “High nominal carry, improving market plumbing, and periodic bouts of volatility.”
A Potential Capital-Flow Catalyst
The launch could have implications beyond benchmarking. International asset managers frequently use major bond indexes to determine investment allocations, meaning inclusion can increase visibility and potentially attract additional foreign capital.
FTSE Russell has operated a comparable frontier-market local-currency index since 2021, but JPMorgan’s benchmarks have a particularly strong position among emerging-market fixed-income managers and are widely used to measure portfolio performance.
The broader local-currency emerging-market debt universe has also expanded significantly, with analysts estimating that tradeable debt has tripled over the past decade to around $1 trillion.
JPMorgan’s GBI-EM Edge will therefore provide investors with a dedicated benchmark covering roughly one-third of that market, while potentially accelerating the integration of frontier economies into global fixed-income portfolios.
For governments across Africa and Asia, the index could offer an additional route to international capital, particularly as they seek to deepen domestic debt markets and reduce their reliance on foreign-currency borrowing.
