Ghana's cedi seen holding firm, Nigeria's naira on back foot

Ghana's cedi is seen holding firm in the coming week, buoyed by steady dollar sales by mining firms, while the Nigerian naira is expected to weaken in the parallel market on persistent greenback scarcity.
GHANA
Ghana's cedi is expected to hold firm on steady dollar sales by mining firms and offshore offers, analysts said.
After weakening nearly 4 percent in January on seasonal dollar demand from importers and speculative buyers, the cedi has been stable in recent weeks. It was quoted at 3.92 to the greenback at 0954 GMT on Thursday, compared with 3.96 the week before.
"Demand has not been as strong as you'd expect and supply of U.S. dollars to the market has been firm in the circumstances," analyst Joseph Biggles Amponsah of Dortis Research said.
NIGERIA
The Nigerian naira is expected to continue to fall on the parallel market as dollar scarcity persists, while the central bank's dollar ratio rule at its official interbank market will also put pressure on the currency.
The local currency was trading around 365 to the dollar on the parallel market, down 13.7 percent from last week's close of 321 a dollar. The naira remained fixed at 197 to the dollar on the interbank market.
Traders said the central bank only allocated between $150-$200 million weekly to importers, but this is considered a drop in the ocean compared with requests pilling up by commercial lenders seeking dollars for their customers.
"The way out of the present situation is for the central bank to relax some of its rule of forex, otherwise the naira will hit 400 naira soon," one trader said.
*First published by Reuters