Skip to content
etf.net

AFK

GradeDNew York Stock Exchange Arca

VanEck Africa Index ETF

Broad Stock Market · VanEck · Inception 2008-07-10 · SEC filings

$28.54−0.81 (−2.76%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 2:04 PM EDT

Intraday session: down, 24 prints from 29.35 to 28.54. Range 28.50 to 28.75. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$28.50$28.60$28.7010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.76%
Fund size
$104M
1Y return
+23.9%
Yield · Last 12 months
0.93%
Holdings
78
Volume · 30D
0.1M sh
NAV per share
$28.77
52W range
low $23.00high $30.85

The ETF.net AFK Grade

D

38/ 100

Rank 18 of 22 in Emerging Markets Stocks⁠

Confidence High

Six-pillar profile for AFK. Scores out of 100: Cost 12, Risk 32, Mission 64, Tradability 54, Holdings 34, Durability 63. Strongest: Mission (64). Weakest: Cost (12). Leans toward Mission and Durability.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 38 of 100 sits in the D band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.

  • Cost

    What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.
    FScore 12
    Category rank19/22 · bottom quartile

  • Mission

    How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.
    BScore 64
    Category rank15/17 · bottom quartile

  • Risk

    How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.
    DScore 32
    Category rank21/22 · bottom quartile

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    CScore 54
    Category rank10/22 · top 45%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    DScore 34
    Category rank14/19 · mid-pack

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    BScore 63
    Category rank8/22 · top 36%

Graded as of Sep 22, 2026

Our read on AFK

ETF.net Research

DAfrica barely registers inside a standard emerging-markets fund. AFK makes it the whole trip: a 2008-vintage index fund holding roughly 80 African companies and tracking the MVIS GDP Africa Index.

Stated mandate

The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS® GDP Africa Index.

Why people hold it

  1. 01One ticker, one continent: roughly 80 companies tracking the MVIS GDP Africa Index rather than a single-country wager.
  2. 02Live since 2008, so it has traded through commodity booms, currency shocks and multiple global selloffs. Rare longevity for a market this hard to reach.
  3. 03Moderately traded for a frontier-flavored corner of the market, so building or unwinding a position is not an expedition.

Worth knowing

  1. 010.76% a year sits well above the median for its emerging-markets peer group, and broad EM index peers like VEXC and BKEM charge a small fraction of that.
  2. 02A concentrated regional slice: roughly 80 stocks exposed to currency moves, commodity prices and single-country politics, a narrower base than a diversified EM fund.
  3. 03Distributions land annually or semiannually, not quarterly, so any cash arrives in lumps.

AFK Holdings

As of Sep 20, 2026, 6:07 AM
Asset class
Stocks
Holdings
78
Top-10 weight
37%
Largest holding
Attijariwafa Bank5.3%

Sectors

  • Materials38.4%
  • Financials31.5%
  • Communication10.6%
  • Consumer Discr.7.0%
  • Energy6.7%
  • Industrials3.0%
  • Cons. Staples1.9%
  • Health Care0.5%
  • Real Estate0.3%
  • Utilities0.2%

Geography

  • South Africa32.90%
  • Canada18.87%
  • Morocco13.08%
  • United Kingdom9.00%
  • Nigeria6.46%
  • Kenya5.57%
  • United States5.30%
  • Australia3.97%
  • Other countries (6)4.86%

Developed 35% · Emerging 65% of the foreign sleeve

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 6.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—Attijariwafa Bank5.27%73,004$5M1
002EDV.LEndeavour Mining Plc5.12%85,033$5M100
003AUAnglogold Ashanti Plc4.91%49,593$5M82
004AYA.TOAya Gold & Silver Inc3.39%121,608$4M47
005GFIGold Fields Ltd3.34%79,627$3M51
006FSR.JOFirstrand Ltd3.22%574,266$3M92
007NPN.JONaspers Ltd3.16%73,999$3M90
008IVN.TOIvanhoe Mines Ltd3.11%374,681$3M66
009IAGIamgold Corp3.04%155,838$3M37
010—Aradel Holdings Plc2.94%2,614,355$3M1
011BBarrick Mining Corp2.82%66,806$3M51
012—Safaricom Plc2.78%10,603,457$3M2
013PRU.AXPerseus Mining Ltd2.54%570,284$3M69
014—Equity Group Holdings Plc/Kenya2.49%3,475,616$3M1
015FM.TOFirst Quantum Minerals Ltd2.46%81,084$3M86

Showing 1–15 of 77 holdings

AFK Performance

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

AFK$12,391
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,723
Sep 22, 2025 to Sep 22, 2026. AFK $12,391. SPY $11,723. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$9,262$11,216$13,171Sep 2025Mar 2026Sep 2026

Sep 22, 2025 – Sep 22, 2026

Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.

Trailing total return for AFK. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodAFK
Year to date+9.7%
1 month−1.7%
3 months+9.6%
1 year+23.9%
3 years+28.7%per year
5 years+9.5%per year
10 years+6.5%per year

As of the close, with distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for AFK
YearReturn barAFK
2026 YTD+9.7%
2025+74.7%
2024+12.1%
2023−12.1%
2022−17.3%
2021+3.0%
2020+4.3%

AFK in the news

ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on AFK yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.

AFK Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Sep 22, 2026.
0.93%Last 12 months
Payout per share
$0.27Last 12 months
Last payment
$0.27 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Irregular

Distribution history

2017–2026

One bar per payment. 8 payments from 2017 to 2026 YTD. Dec 18, 2017 $0.49; Dec 20, 2018 $0.34; Dec 23, 2019 $1.29; Dec 21, 2020 $0.80; Dec 20, 2021 $0.84; Dec 19, 2022 $0.58; Dec 18, 2023 $0.31; Dec 22, 2025 $0.27. Use the arrow keys to read each point.2017201820192020202120222023202420252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Dec 22, 2025Dec 26, 2025$0.27
Dec 18, 2023Dec 22, 2023$0.31
Dec 19, 2022Dec 23, 2022$0.58
Dec 20, 2021Dec 27, 2021$0.84
Dec 21, 2020Dec 28, 2020$0.80
Dec 23, 2019Dec 30, 2019$1.29
Dec 20, 2018Dec 27, 2018$0.34
Dec 18, 2017Dec 22, 2017$0.49
Dec 19, 2016Dec 23, 2016$0.53
Dec 21, 2015Dec 28, 2015$0.39
Dec 22, 2014Dec 29, 2014$0.76
Dec 23, 2013Dec 30, 2013$0.83

AFK Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
19.5%
Annualised · 36 months to Aug 2026
How it’s calculated: standard deviation

The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
1.11
vs 3-month T-bills · to Aug 2026
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio

Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.

Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−37.6%
Trough Oct 2023
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown

The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.

Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
1.09
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

AFK Cost

Expense ratio0.76%
  • The middle half of Emerging Markets Stocks funds
  • Median 0.56%

18 of the 21 Emerging Markets Stocks funds charge less.

AFK costs $76.00 a year on $10,000. The median Emerging Markets Stocks fund costs $56.00.