DSEI vs TSI: Why the DSE Has Two Headline Numbers

The DSEI is the All Share Index: a market-capitalisation-weighted index of every company listed on the DSE; including the large cross-listed foreign companies (firms head-quartered elsewhere in East Africa that also trade in Dar). Because those cross-listed names are huge, they dominate the DSEI's level and movement.

The TSI is the domestic index: it tracks only the Tanzanian listed companies, excluding the cross-listed foreign names. So the TSI is the cleaner read on how local companies; the banks, the brewer, the cement makers, the telco; are actually performing.

Because they measure different baskets. When local companies rally but the big cross-listed foreign names are flat or falling, the TSI rises faster than the DSEI; and the headline All-Share number understates what local investors are actually experiencing.

That's exactly the recent picture: the domestic TSI has run well ahead of the headline DSEI over the past year. (As-at index levels; DSEI, TSI, market cap, and the year-on-year move; are shown live on our Indices page; verify the latest figures there.)

It depends on what you hold:

• If you invest mainly in Tanzanian companies, the TSI is the more honest benchmark for your portfolio.
• If you want the whole-exchange picture including cross-listed names, the DSEI is the broad gauge.
• Watching both, and the gap between them, tells you whether a move is local or imported.

One number rarely tells the whole story on the DSE. The headline DSEI is the broad market; the TSI is the domestic engine; and the spread between them is itself a signal. We break down all five DSE index numbers, with the rebased chart, on the Indices detail page.