Nigerian fx reserves down 3.4 pct in Sept 28

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves fell to $24.59 billion by Sept. 28, down 3.37 percent from the previous month, latest central bank data showed on Friday, as the bank stepped up its intervention to prop up the ailing naira currency. The reserves of Africa's largest economy stood at $25.45 billion last month. The reserves had declined 19 percent from a year ago.The central bank has been selling the dollar to support the currency, but the naira...

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Gas shortages turn Nigeria's Dangote to coal to make cement

Nigeria's Dangote Cement has turned to locally-mined coal to fire its cement plants because of gas shortages due to militant attacks on Nigerian facilities and to lower its production costs. "All our cement plants have been converted to coal," Aliko Dangote, the company's billionaire majority owner and chairman, told a business conference on Thursday, adding they would use 12,000 metric tonnes of coal each day. Dangote is shifting to coal rather...

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Woman kidnaps sister’s daughter for 30,000 naira ransom

Nigerian Police, Lagos State command has arrested a Ghanaian, Enyolam Believe, for her involvement in the kidnapping of her niece in the Ikotun area of the state in her attempt to raise 30, 000 naira for a business venture. Believe, a resident of Lagos for the past 17 years, was alleged to have conspired with her friend, Agatha Aigbomiam, to kidnapped her eight-year-old niece on her way to school and taken to Ogun State by Aigbomiam.The victim was...

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Nigerian naira hits new low as dollar shortage persists

Nigeria's naira tumbled more than five percent to another record low against the dollar on the black market on Thursday, as a dollar shortage persisted.Low prices for oil, the country's top foreign currency earner, have drained the country's forex reserves, which hit an 11-year-low of $24.61 billion on Tuesday. "Dollar is very scarce in the market right now because many people don't know how low it will fall in the near term, so people are holding...

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Exotix Partners on Nigerian banks: Just a flesh wound

·   Back under coverage, with a mix of Buys and Holds. We reinstate coverage on Nigerian bank bonds with Buy recommendations on the First Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank, GT Bank and Access Bank 2017 bonds and Hold recommendations on the Access Bank 2021, Ecobank Nigeria, Diamond Bank and Fidelity Bank securities. Most bonds’ prices have recovered relative to YTD lows, but valuations do not appear stretched relative to other frontier market...

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African economic growth dips to two-decade low - World Bank

Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to slip to 1.6 percent this year, its lowest level in two decades, due to continuing woes in the continent's largest economies South Africa and Nigeria, a World Bank report said on Thursday. Africa has been one of the world's fastest growing region's over the past decade, but a commodities slump has hit its oil and mineral exporters hard, bringing growth down to 3 percent in 2015.However, other countries,...

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US, Singapore and Switzerland Are World's Most Competitive Economies

The World Economic Forum's new Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017 looked at 138 nations, and it put the United States, Singapore and Switzerland at the top.The organization announced : This year's edition highlights that declining openness is threatening growth and prosperity. It also highlights that monetary stimulus measures such as quantitative easing are not enough to sustain growth and must be accompanied by competitiveness reforms. Final...

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Nigerian naira hits new record low of 460 per dollar on black market

The Nigerian naira plunged further to a new record low on Wednesday, down 1.76 percent against the dollar on the parallel market even as dollar supplies dry up.The local currency fell to 460 to the dollar on the black market, down from 452 at the close of trading on Tuesday.Though the naira closed at 305.50 to the dollar on the official interbank market against 305 a dollar the previous day, traders said dollar liquidity remains a major challenge in the market. "Trading has continued to be thin on the interbank market as the dollar shortage persists...

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MTN denies illegal transfer of $14 billion from Nigeria

 South Africa's MTN on Wednesday denied allegations it illegally repatriated $13.92 billion from Nigeria, the latest setback for the telecoms firm in its biggest but increasingly problematic market.The upper house of Nigeria's parliament agreed on Tuesday to investigate whether Africa's biggest telecoms company illegally transferred the money out of the West African country between 2006 and 2016.  "The allegations made against MTN are...

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Ghana's economic growth slows in Q2 as oil output falls

Ghana's economic growth slowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, provisional official data showed on Wednesday, due mainly to a temporary halt in oil production.Ghana saw sustained GDP growth of above 8 percent until 2013, helped by exports of gold, cocoa and oil, but then slumped because of lower global commodity prices and a fiscal crisis that forced it to secure an aid deal with the International Monetary Fund...

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Nigeria to raise 250-340 bln naira in bonds in Q4 -debt office

Nigeria plans to raise between 250 billion naira and 340 billion naira ($794.91 million-$1.08 billion) in local currency-denominated bonds in the fourth quarter, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said on Tuesday.The debt office said it would auction between 90-120 billion naira worth of bonds maturing in 2021, 70-100 billion naira in the debt maturing in 2026 and 90-120 billion naira worth in the paper maturing in 2036.In its latest issuance calendar, the debt office said the bonds will be re-opened from previously issued debt.Nigeria had planned...

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Nigeria’s external debt is uniquely of top investment grade - debt office

      By Abraham E. Nwankwo As Nigeria reforms, restructures and strategizes towards pulling back the economy unto a path of inclusive and sustainable growth, it is useful to pay detailed attention to the sectors and subsectors. This is because while summary pictures succeed in showing the prevailing conditions, the secrets to the various pieces of the solution lie in the details. That is, appropriate disaggregation is good for effective...

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African Development Bank aims to lend Nigeria $4.1 bln for power and farming

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is set to lend Nigeria a total $4.1 billion over 2016 and 2017, and $10 billion by 2019, its president said on Monday, to help Africa's biggest economy plug its budget gap and develop its infrastructure. Akinwumi Adesina said he would go to the pan-African lender's board next month to seek approval for a first, $1 billion loan to cover this year's deficit as Nigeria grapples with its first recession in more than...

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Nigeria plans 0.5 trln naira investment in housing to stimulate economy -finmin

Nigeria is planning about 500 billion naira new housing fund as part of its bid to stimulate the economy of the West African country and brings it back from recession and return it back to the path of growth, the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, has said. Adeosun, who fielded questions from some journalists in her office at the weekend, said a mass housing scheme that would make Nigerians become homeowners under a mortgage arrangement would commence...

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Egypt eyes $10 bln in foreign investment as it upgrades infrastructure

Egypt hopes to attract $10 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) next year and will automate the process of establishing a company, its investment chief said, highlighting efforts to revive the economy and earn much-needed hard currency. The most populous Arab country has been scrambling to attract investment needed to restore growth since the 2011 uprising, which ushered in protracted political turmoil and scared away tourists and foreign...

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Cocoa prices fall as crop outlook improves, stops hit

Cocoa futures were sharply lower on Friday, with a decline linked to improving crop prospects for the 2016/17 season accelerating as sell-stops were triggered.March New York cocoa was off $92 or 3.2 percent at $2,794 per tonne at 1408 GMT.The market had rallied during the last few days from a low of $2,743 set on Sep. 12 to a peak on Thursday of $2,902. "The short covering rally has ended in cocoa and we've seen the resumption of the downtrend ahead...

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Nigerian interbank rate eases as budget cash disbursed

Nigeria's interbank lending rate eased to around 15 percent on Friday, down from nearly 40 percent for overnight lending a week ago, as the disbursal of August budget allocations to government agencies boosted market liquidity. Overall the market had a liquidity surplus of 283.61 billion naira at Friday's opening, compared with the previous week's deficit of 128 billion naira.Nigeria distributes money monthly to its three tiers of government from...

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Tanzanian lecturer charged with insulting president on WhatsApp

A Tanzanian lecturer has been charged with insulting President John Magufuli in a WhatsApp message, a senior police official said on Friday, bringing the number of people charged under a tough new cybercrimes law to 10. Magufuli, nicknamed "the bulldozer" for pushing through his policies, has won some praise from Western donors for anti-corruption drives and cutting wasteful government spending since coming to power in November.But opponents accuse...

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MTN denies paying bribe to reduce Nigerian fine

South Africa's MTN denied it paid a bribe to Nigerian officials to reduce its fine to 330 billion naira ($1.05 billion) as part of settling a dispute over disconnecting unregistered SIM cards in the West African country. MTN said in a statement on Friday there had been allegations that a top official in the Nigerian presidency took a payment towards reducing the fine.The telecom group was initially fined $5.2 billion last October for failing to...

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Nigeria naira at record black market low as dollar reserves shrink

Nigeria naira hit a new record low of 436 on the black market on Thursday as dollar shortages on the official market persist,traders said. Traders said dollar shortage continue to fuel demand at the unofficial market, amidst declining currency reserves in Africa's biggest economy, traders said. Nigeria's dollar reserves stood at $24.83 billion by Sept. 19, down 3.4 percent from a month ago, to its lowest level in more than 11-years, as the central...

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Guinness Nigeria gets Diageo loan to help with currency shortages

Guinness Nigeria said on Wednesday that it had received a $95 million loan from parent Diageo to help it cope with dollar shortages in the West African country caused by a slump in crude prices.Chief finance officer Ronald Plumridge said the company's currency needs were much bigger than it was able to source locally and from its exports and so Diageo had stepped in with the loan.The loan was priced at 3-month Libor plus 4.75 percent, he said. Nigeria...

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Flour Mills of Nigeria targets export to Europe, weaker naira helps

Flour Mills of Nigeria has exported 10 percent of its locally processed soya bean products for the first time to feed mills in Europe and North Africa, its chairman said, helped by a weaker domestic currency. It exported 15,000 tonnes of soya bean products from its plant in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria, John Coumantaros told Reuters, after Nigeria floated its currency in June, which made the company's products competitive abroad.The naira lost a third...

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Nigeria central bank holds rates, defying reduction call

Nigeria's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 14 percent on Tuesday, resisting a call from the country's finance minister to lower borrowing costs. Africa's largest economy is going through its first recession in more than 20 years, brought on by low oil prices, and inflation accelerated to an 11-year high of 17.6 percent in August. The naira has traded at a record low of 425 to the dollar on the parallel market since last week. Finance...

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Oil at six-week low as oversupply outweighs output freeze talks

Oil prices fell to the lowest in nearly six weeks on Tuesday as concerns over a potential rise in U.S. crude stocks, adding to swelling oversupply, outweighed OPEC comments that a possible production freeze agreement could last longer than expected. Global benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading at $45.20 per barrel at 1338 GMT, down 75 cents day on day and the weakest since Aug. 11.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down...

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Sterling slides to 5-week low as Brexit chatter weighs

Worries about the political and economic risks from Britain's pending exit from the European Union drove sterling to a five-week low on Tuesday in markets thinned by anticipation of U.S. and Japanese central bank meetings. After a solid start, sterling slid 0.5 percent to $1.2960, its weakest level in five weeks against the dollar. It also lost 0.6 percent to 86.22 pence per euro.While the economy has ridden out the immediate aftermath of June's...

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Nigeria must consider oil asset sales as foreign loans delayed -Senate leader

Nigeria must consider selling stakes in joint ventures with oil majors and other assets as talks to borrow abroad have not succeeded yet and would in any case not generate enough funds to stimulate economic recovery, the leader of the Senate said.Senate President Bukola Saraki, the third most powerful official in Africa's biggest economy, also said the oil producer might struggle with recession for up to nine months or even longer unless it got serious...

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YOU AND YOUR CAR: Dashboard Warning Lights and What Do They Mean?

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Oil climbs as Venezuela sees output deal

Oil prices rose on Monday from multi-week lows after Venezuela said OPEC and non-OPEC producers were close to a deal to stabilise the market and as clashes in Libya disrupted attempts to boost crude exports. Brent crude futures were $46.15 per barrel at 1337 GMT, up 38 cents from their previous settlement but off an earlier peak of 46.62. U.S. crude was up 47 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $43.50 a barrel.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said...

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Ghana's central bank holds benchmark policy rate at 26.0 pct

Ghana's inflation will fall faster towards government targets than expected, the head of the central bank said on Monday, raising prospects of a cycle of interest rate cuts as it held benchmark borrowing costs at 26.0 percent. Inflation much higher than in comparable African economies has dogged Ghana for years, a symptom of a broader economic crisis that emerged in 2013 with falling commodity prices, forcing the government to seek financing from...

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Nigerian finance minister urges interest rate cut to help economy

Nigerian finance minister Kemi Adeosun said on Monday she wanted the central bank to lower interest rates so that the government can borrow domestically to boost the economy, which is stuck in recession, without increasing its debt-servicing costs. Adeosun said she is working with the debt office, Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund and the pension industry to issue an infrastructure bond to raise money for road and housing projects, although she did...

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Energy crisis: 10 power plants shut, 1,041MW lost

The nation’s power generation fell by over 1,000 megawatts as four power plants were down on Saturday, bringing the total number of plants not generating electricity at the moment to 10.The nation recorded a total system collapse on Friday, September 16, 2016, the 17th time this year, industry data obtained by our correspondent on Sunday showed.The total power generation stood at 2,555.7MW as of 6am on Saturday, down from 3,596.2MW the previous day,...

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African nations should borrow closer to home, AfDB president says

African governments in the grip of Eurobond fever should look closer to home to secure financing vital to their economic development as borrowing costs on international debt markets rise, the president of the African Development Bank said. Africa has seen a boom in dollar-debt issuance over the past decade as countries have sought to borrow, often for costly infrastructure projects, at a time when investors in the United States and Europe sought...

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