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We examine the nexus between real foreign exchange rates and international portfolio flows using monthly data for the period 1997:1 to 2009:12 for Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. We analyze the full sample period and two sub-periods, distinguished by the relative volume and volatility of portfolio flows. We find international portfolio flows, in Africa, to be non-persistent and relatively volatile. Granger causality tests and innovation accounting from vector autoregressions show that the dynamic relationship between portfolio flows and foreign exchange rates is both country-dependent and time-varying; and these findings are robust to alternative VAR specifications.