Nigeria FX buffer at near 3-month high of $30.8 bln by July 27 -cenbank

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves had risen to an almost three-month high of $30.74 billion by July 27, latest central bank data showed on Monday.Nigeria's dollar reserves grew 1.62 percent from a month earlier. The bank did not provide a reason for the increase. Reserves have risen 17.24 percent from a year earlier, partly due to increases in the production and price of crude oil, Nigeria's mainstay, and to offshore investment inflows into...

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Nigerian interbank rate falls on budget distribution

Nigeria's interbank lending rate fell sharply to five percent on Friday from 15 percent last week following the distribution of budget allocations to government agencies.Overnight placement had closed around 11.6 percent at the interbank on Thursday.A total of 652.2 billion naira ($2.14 billion) in budget allocations was handed out by the state to its three tiers of government -- federal, states and local -- late on Tuesday while a portion of states...

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Nigerian Senate withdraws report exonerating South Africa's MTN over FX transfers

Nigeria's Senate has withdrawn a report that largely exonerated South African mobile phone giant MTN of accusations of illegally repatriating $14 billion and that rebuked the Nigerian central bank for regulatory failures.The report, presented to the Senate on Thursday and reviewed by Reuters, was almost immediately sent back for further work because it did not capture possible infractions by all stakeholders, two people familiar with the matter said.The...

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Nigeria stocks near three-year high on strong H1 profit

Nigerian stocks surged 3.4 percent on Wednesday to a 32-month high on improving sentiment after several mid-sized listed firms announced increases in half-year earnings, traders said.  The main share index rose for the third straight day, nearing the 37,000 point level last reached in November 2014.Analysts said several medium-sized listed companies, which supply services to larger ones, have announced increases in half-year profits signalling...

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Nigeria to issue 229 bln naira Treasury bill after budget cash injection

Nigeria plans to issue 229.14 billion naira ($728.59 mln) in Treasury bills at an auction on Aug. 2, the central bank said on Wednesday after the government injected monthly budgetary allocations to states and local government into the system on Tuesday.The bank said it will issue 29.14 billion naira in three-month bills, 80 billion in six-month paper and 120 billion in one-year bills.Nigeria's central bank issues Treasury bills twice a month to...

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Ghana producer price inflation dips to 3.6 pct in June

Ghana's producer price inflation fell slightly to 3.6 percent year-on-year in June from 3.7 percent the month before, mainly due to lower gold prices, the statistics office said on Wednesday.Ghana, Africa's second biggest gold producer, is more than halfway through a three-year aid deal with the International Monetary Fund to restore fiscal balance, including reducing persistently high inflation.Mining and quarrying inflation declined to 12 percent...

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Cement group LafargeHolcim cuts global demand outlook

 LafargeHolcim, the world's largest cement maker, cut its forecast for global demand on Wednesday citing weakness in Southeast Asia and Nigeria but said it remained on course to hit its 2017 profit targets. The company said it now expects the global market to increase by 1 to 3 percent this year, down from 2 to 4 percent previously.LafargeHolcim's more cautious view runs counter to upbeat forecasts by the International Monetary Fund, which...

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Huge drop in sperm count could lead to human EXTINCTION as study reveals 60 pct drop in fertility since 1970

Humans could face extinction if sperm counts continue to drop as fast as they have done in the last four decades in Western countries, a study warns. Researchers claim the Western lifestyle has more than halved the sperm count of men in the US, Europe and Australia since the 1970s in a new study published by Human Reproduction Update.Sperm count is the best measure of male fertility, and lead author Dr Hagai Levine said the findings are an 'urgent...

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Oil rallies 3 percent as U.S. shale shows signs of slowdown

Oil rose around 3 percent on Tuesday, a day after U.S. oil producer Anadarko said it would cut capital spending plans and Saudi Arabia vowed to reduce crude exports to help curb global oversupply.Brent crude futures rose $1.37 or 2.8 percent to $49.97 a barrel by 12:06 p.m. (1606 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose $1.39 or 3 percent to $47.73 a barrel.Lower oil prices in June and July may be affecting U.S. shale production, said Mark...

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Nigerian stocks hit new two-year highs, led by banking sector

Nigeria's benchmark index hit new two-year highs on Tuesday, led by banking shares after the central bank said it was committed to opening up the local currency market to investors.The index rose 2.54 percent, hurdling the 35,000-point level to post its second consecutive day of gains. The banking index jumped 2.62 percent.Traders said prices were supported by buying on an optimistic outlook for half-year company results.Dangote Cement, which accounts...

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9mobile asks Citi, Standard Bank to find new investors - source

9mobile, the mobile operator formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria, has appointed Citigroup and Standard Bank to find an investor to buy into the firm and three companies have shown interest, a banking source close to the deal said on Tuesday.India's Bharti Airtel, which already has a presence in Nigeria, as well as Britain's Vodafone and French telecom company Orange have shown interest, the source told Reuters."These are still early interest signals...

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Nigeria central bank holds benchmark interest rate at 14 pct - governor

Nigeria's central bank held its benchmark interest rate at 14 percent on Tuesday, its governor said. Governor Godwin Emefiele said two of the eight members who attended the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting had voted to cut the headline rate. Economists polled by Reuters last week predicted that the central bank would keep the main interest rate unchanged. Nigeria, an OPEC member which has Africa's biggest economy, is in the second year...

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Nigeria's Buhari will return to presidential duties when doctors advise -the presidency

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari will return to his official duties as soon as doctors advise that he can end his medical leave, according to a statement from the presidency on Tuesday.Amid conflicting reports on the health of the 74-year-old president, his office released a photograph on Sunday - the first for almost three months - showing a smiling Buhari looking less gaunt than when he was last seen on television in Nigeria.Buhari left Abuja...

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Nigerian stocks hit 2-year high on earnings hopes

Nigerian stocks climbed to more than two year highs on Monday, lifted by gains in Dangote Cement as investors piled into the shares in anticipation of its half-year earnings.Dangote Cement, which accounts for a third of total market capitalisation, rose 2.44 percent to lift the main share index 1.86 percent to a level last seen in May 2015.Traders said investors were expecting strong a half-year performance from listed firms as results start pouring...

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Nigerian Indomie maker Dufil plans $131 million debt issue

Nigerian pasta maker Dufil Prima Food plans to raise 40 billion naira ($131 million) from the local debt market to broaden its funding base, it said on Monday.The privately held company, set up over two decades ago, has grown to become the largest pasta maker in West Africa, it said. It competes with listed rival such as Dangote Flourmill, Flour Mills of Nigeria and Honeywell Flour Mills.Dufil also makes cooking oil.Several Nigerian companies have...

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Guinness Nigeria starts to receive subscriptions for $126 mln share sale

Guinness Nigeria has started receiving subscriptions for its 39.70 billion naira ($126 mln) share sale to existing shareholders, which will end in five weeks' time, the company said on Monday.The beer maker, the local unit of the world's leading spirit maker Diageo, said in a statement shareholders can buy five new shares from the company for every 11 held, at 58 naira each, before the offer closes on August 30.The company, which is 54 percent...

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Ghana central bank cuts rates as inflation eases

Ghana's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points to 21.0 percent on Monday, citing a downward trend in consumer inflation and the potential for higher economic growth on increasing oil output.The cut, which economists had expected, reflected lower risks to inflation helped by a slightly stabler local currency, Central Bank Governor Ernest Addison told a news conference in the capital Accra. "Barring any unanticipated shocks,...

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South African cement maker PPC hit by CEO's sudden departure

South African cement maker PPC said on Monday its chief executive officer Darryll Castle will step down immediately to pursue other interests, sending its share price down more than 7 percent. Castle's resignation follows the departure of independent non-executive director Tito Mboweni, former Reserve Bank governor, who resigned on July 18 with no explanation. Castle has been at the helm for nearly three years at PPC, which is in the midst...

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Cancer treatments may unlock a cure for HIV - Research shows

Cancer treatments may hold a cure for HIV, new research suggests. Both HIV and cancer sufferers struggle to rid themselves of their condition, however, boosting the latter patients' immune systems can significantly reduce their tumours. It is hoped that a similar treatment could clear HIV sufferers of the virus. Such drugs may also activate HIV that lies dormant in a patient's cells, which is the biggest obstacle to curing sufferers as current drugs...

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Nigerian banks give more access to forex as dollar liquidity improves

Nigerian banks are now comfortable selling the naira currency at around 360-380 per dollar to consumers as increased dollar inflow from independent sources gave them more access to hard currency to meet their customer's needs, traders said on Monday. Confident of improved liquidity in the forex market, some commercial lenders are now encouraging their customers with local denominated credit cards to have increased access to the dollar at 380 to the...

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OPEC moves to cap Nigerian oil output, boost compliance

OPEC moved on Monday to cap Nigerian oil output and called on several members to boost compliance with production cuts to help clear excessive global stocks and support flagging prices.OPEC has agreed with several non-OPEC producers led by Russia to cut oil output by a combined 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 2017 until the end of March 2018.OPEC states Libya and Nigeria were exempted from the limits to help their oil industries recover...

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Nigeria interbank rate jumps as central bank sells debt and dollars

Nigeria's interbank lending rate rose to around 20 percent, from 5 percent on Thursday, after the central bank sold treasury bills to mop-up excess liquidity and announced plans to sell dollars to businesses.The interbank rate reflects the level of naira cash liquidity in the banking system. The central bank said in a notice to commercial lenders on Friday it would sell dollars to manufacturers, airlines, fuel importers and agriculture businesses...

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Kenya's latest mobile phone bond falls short of target

An innovative Kenyan bond which is bought via mobile phone had raised far less than the 1 billion shillings ($9.6 million) targeted on Friday, failing to match a previous success.In March, the East African nation became the first country to issue a mobile phone-based bond, which can be bought by phone users without the need for them to have a bank account. Investors can use mobile phone networks' financial platforms like M-Pesa to send money and...

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Nigeria sells treasury bills above inflation to attract FX flows

Nigeria's central bank offered six-and 12-month Treasury bills at yields higher than the country's inflation rate on Friday to lure yield-hungry investors and attract dollar inflows, traders said.Severe dollar shortages have been a hallmark of Nigeria's recession, now in its second year. The downturn was brought on mainly by lower prices for oil, the government's largest source of income, mostly paid for in hard currency.The central bank sold a...

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Oil falls on report showing OPEC deal compliance falling in July

Oil prices fell on Friday after a consultancy report forecast a rise in OPEC production for July despite the group's pledge to curb output, reigniting concerns the market will stay awash with crude. Petro-Logistics, which tracks OPEC supply forecasts, said OPEC crude production would rise by 145,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month, taking the group's combined output above 33 million bpd.Higher supply from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates...

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How a billion-dollar internet scam is breaking hearts and bank accounts

Modern online romance scams are premeditated, organized crimes that steal millions ― potentially billions ― of dollars from vulnerable, lonely people over the internet.The scammers may just have lit upon the perfect crime: They sit at computers safely overseas, hunting for their prey on social networks, and they rarely get caught. The victims are often left deeply damaged ― both financially and psychologically ― and so embarrassed that they're reluctant...

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