The Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index has just debuted, and Van Eck Global will issue the first ETF to follow the pan-African index. The Market Watch article explains that the new index is made up of 50 companies either headquartered in Africa or that produce more than half of their revenues within the continent. To be eligible for the index, companies must have at least $200 million of market capitalization and a three-month average daily trading volume of $1 million. In an effort to maintain diversity, Market Watch points out that the weight of any country is capped at 25% and there is a limit of 15 companies per country. Finally, the industries most heavily represented within the index are Basic Resources, Banking, and Oil & Gas. Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Index, contributes by saying, "It was important for us to develop an investable index that gives true exposure to the African region and is open to all African countries that qualify for it. This is the first pure African index to be used as underlying for an ETF.”

Van Eck Global has developed an ETF to follow the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index. The Market Watch article identifies the fund as Market Vectors Africa Index ETF (AFK), which is set to begin trading on the NYSE July 14, 2008. AFK will be providing investors exposure to numerous markets associated with Africa, including Angola, Kenya, and Nigeria.

Claymore Securities has teamed up with The Bank of New York Mellon to debut the first U.S.-listed ETF to track frontier markets. Business Wire defines a "frontier market as a market of a country that is less developed than a traditional emerging market. The new fund, known as Claymore/BNY Mellon Frontier Markets ETF (FRN) is designed to track up to 41 countries considered to be within the frontier classification, such as Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Croatia, or Poland. Christian Magoon, President of Claymore, believes the intriguing aspect for investors of frontier markets is their growth opportunity, as they are currently in the early stages of their development and are considered the "next generation of emerging markets. FRN will link to The BNY Mellon New Frontier DR Index, which Business Wire reports is made up of companies with a minimum market capitalization of $100 million. Bank of New York Mellon, managing director Michael Finck provided his perspective with the statement, "U.S. investors have had little exposure to these smaller, less-developed markets, which are excluded from most benchmarks and overshadowed by the popular emerging markets.