West Africa | - Part 4

Increase in Mali Attacks Shows Need for Regional Force, UN Says

BAMAKO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Insecurity is spreading in Mali and across its borders as the number of militant attacks rose and new armed groups emerged over the past year, underscoring the need for military cooperation in West Africa, according to the United Nations Secretary General. Violent extremists carried out 201 attacks against the Malian security forces, UN peacekeepers and French troops since June last year, compared to 165 assaults in the previous 12…

Ghana to Tap Stabilization Fund for Cocoa Pay Next Season

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana will probably start drawing from its stabilization fund to cover cocoa farmers’ pay during the season that starts in October as the second-biggest grower props up local prices in the face of a global slump. While Ivory Coast, the largest producer, has already slashed the price it pays farmers for the smaller of two annual crops by 36 percent, Ghana’s Cocoa Board so far kept it unchanged and…

Parallel Market Emerges in Nigeria’s Currency-Trading World

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A kind of parallel universe is taking shape in Nigeria’s foreign-exchange market. The African country’s traditional forwards market is facing competition from an upstart based on the new exchange-rate window policy makers opened six weeks ago. Bond investors and speculators are switching away from non-deliverable forwards that are linked to the main interbank exchange rate, which is tightly controlled by the central bank, and embracing the more liberal pricing…

Nampak Surges as Can-Maker Extracts More Cash From Nigeria

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nampak Limited rallied the most on record after Africa’s biggest beverage-can maker said it significantly improved its ability to get cash out of Nigeria while increasing the use of hedging contracts to protect against currency fluctuations. The Johannesburg-based company expects to get $54 million out of Nigeria by the end of September, Chief Financial Officer Glenn Fullerton said by phone. The combined rate at which Nampak extracted money out of Nigeria and Angola…

Nigeria’s inflation slows after fifteen months in February

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Inflation in February accelerated at a slower pace to 17.87% YoY (January: 18.72% YoY; Consensus Estimate: 17.32% YoY), with prices pulling back after fifteen months of consecutive increase. Whilst the rise in food prices remained strong in February at 18.53% YoY, the “All Items Less Farm Produce Index” ( a proxy for core inflation) provided the buffer for the headline CPI, moderating for the third consecutive month to 16.01%…

Will Nigerian Equity Markets Rebound in 2017?

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The equity market could be headed for another tough year with economic concerns surrounding FX and weak corporate earnings continue to downplay the attractive valuations of blue chip stocks. We reiterate the strong correlation of the Nigerian equity market to oil prices and with the price of Brent crude oil hovering around $55/bbl coming into 2017, we think losses will be less steep this year with the potential for…

Nigeria’s Economic Recession Creates Opportunities in Real Estate

Posted on by The Editorial Team

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Obinna Onunkwo, Managing Partner of Purple Capital Partners Limited, is a seasoned securities specialist with over 15 years of experience in investment management. He talks to Capital Markets in Africa about challenges and opportunities in Nigerian real estate markets. The perfect storm is brewed with the combination of an acute shortage of dollar inflows, the spectre of currency devaluation, increasing inflation and rising interest rates. How are developers and investors facing these challenges as well…

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