West Africa | - Part 6

Nigeria’s economy shrinks by 1.51% in 2016 for first time in 25 years

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s economy contracted 1.5 percent in 2016 due to lower oil revenues and a shortage of hard currency, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, its first annual contraction in quarter of a century. Africa’s largest economy slid into recession in the second quarter of 2016 as a slump in crude prices hammered the OPEC member’s public finances and battered the naira currency. Crude sales make up two-thirds…

Afreximbank Targets $1.5 Billion Support for Burkina Faso’s Five-Year Plan

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Ouagadougou (Capital Markets in Africa) – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will arrange up to $1.5 billion in multi-sourced finance to support projects and initiatives under Burkina Faso’s five- year National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES), Bank President Dr. Benedict Oramah has announced in Ouagadougou. Speaking on Tuesday after a meeting with Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, President of Burkina Faso, Dr. Oramah, said that the support would target activities aimed at building capacity in…

Nigerian Breweries Profit Falls as FX Shortage Adds to Costs

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian Breweries Plc, the local unit of Heineken NV, said full-year profit declined 26 percent as a shortage of foreign exchange hampered the import of raw materials and increased the cost of doing business. Net income declined to 28.4 billion naira ($90 million) fin 2016 from 38 billion naira the previous year, the Lagos-based company said in a statement published on the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s website on Monday. Cost of sales…

Nigeria says sees no need to go to IMF, plans its own reforms

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria sees no need to apply for an International Monetary Fund programme as it is pursuing its own economic reform plan, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Tuesday. Sharp falls in the price of crude oil, its main export, have tipped Africa’s biggest economy into its first recession for 25 years and hammered the naira currency, prompting speculation it might need IMF funding to cover a growing budget deficit….

Nigeria tests waters for possible broad naira devaluation

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ABUJA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria effectively devalued the naira for private individuals on Monday, paving the way for a possible broader move despite stiff resistance from President Muhammadu Buhari. With Buhari abroad for medical treatment and the country’s currency exchange system in chaos, the central bank said Nigerians wanting dollars for travel or to pay foreign school fees could buy dollars at nearly 20 percent above the official rate. Some Nigerians saw the…

IFC and West African Development Bank Support Housing Finance

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced a financing agreement with the West African Economic and Monetary Union’s Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire, the regional mortgage refinancing company, to address the pressing need for affordable housing in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) zone. IFC is providing an equity investment of 1.25 billion CFA franc ($2 million) in CRRH-UEMOA. CRRH-UEMOA, a regional initiative launched…

Nigerian Equities Start the Week Bullish … NSE ASI Up 34bps

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Nigerian bourse opened on a positive note for the first time in three (3) successive weeks. The All Share Index rose 34bps to close at 25,249.49 points whilst market capitalization increased N29.3bn to settle at N8.7tn. As a result, YTD loss trimmed to –6.0%. Market performance was broadly driven by bargain hunting in Consumer Goods bellwether NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+ 4.2%) which took a beating last week. Market activity,…

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