Nigeria's forex reserves down 1.9 pct month-on-month to $38.7 bln

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves fell 1.94 percent month-on-month to stand at $38.76 billion on Oct. 29, the lowest level in more than three months.

Data from central bank showed on Friday that the reserves also dropped 14.28 percent year-on-year, compared with $45.22 billion the same time last year. The reserves were last seen at the current level on July 21, when they stood at $38.72 billion.

It would be recalled that since last month Nigeria's central bank has increased the amount of dollars sold at its twice-weekly foreign exchange auction, and also sells dollars directly to banks on the interbank market to provide support for the currency and calm the market.

The Naira has been under pressure over the past five weeks from falling global oil prices, which has caused offshore investors to cut back their positions in the debt and stock markets.

Malawi central bank lifts benchmark lending rate to 25 percent

Malawi's central bank says it has increased its benchmark lending rate by 250 basis points to 25 percent, it said on Friday, attempting to temper high inflation.

The bank in a statement, said the Committee observed that inflation outcomes for the second half of 2014 have generally been higher than during the second half of 2013.

It added that looking ahead, inflation is expected to accelerate to 25.4 percent in December 2014, largely due to rising food prices and the depreciating Kwacha.

Kenya inflation falls to 6.43 percent in October

 

 
 Kenya's year-on-year inflation fell to 6.43 percent in the year to October from 6.60 percent in the previous month as food and transport prices moderated, the statistics office said on Friday.

Ghana producer price inflation falls to 46.7 pct yr/yr: Stats Office

 

Ghana's annual producer price inflation fell to 46.7 percent in September, down from 48.3 percent year-on-year in August, the national statistics office said on Wednesday.

The figure is an indication of the economic challenges facing the West African country, whose gross domestic product has grown swiftly in recent years through its exports of gold, cocoa and oil.

Chief Government statistician Anthony Amuzu said that slightly lower figures for the manufacture of food, beverages and furniture helped to lower the overall figure.

Ghana is aiming to seal a deal in November with the International Monetary Fund to stabilize its macro-economy, which has this year seen rising inflation, a falling currency and a double-digit budget deficit.

Standard & Poor's ratings agency downgraded Ghana's rating on Friday in the face of those problems.

Nestle Nigeria profit down slightly, dividend up nearly 7-fold

 

 Nestle Nigeria said on Wednesday its pretax profit for the 9 months to the end of September fell marginally to 20.16 billion naira ($122.03 million), from 20.37 billion naira a year earlier.

Revenue however rose to 102.66 billion naira, compared with 95.41 billion naira in the same period last year.

The Nigerian unit of the world's biggest food group, Nestle SA, said it had proposed an interim dividend of 10 naira for each share payable on Nov. 21, nearly seven times the 1.50 naira dividend it paid a year ago.

Lafarge Africa 9-month pre-tax profit falls 41.2 pct

 

Lafarge Africa, unit of Lafarge Cement, said on Wednesday its nine month pretax profit dropped 41.2 percent to 38.08 billion Nigerian naira ($230.51 million), compared with 53.78 billion naira in the same period last year.

Revenue however rose to 159.39 billion naira, from 154.78 billion naira previously.

The company said in a filing with Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Nigeria's Diamond Bank 9-month pretax profit down 7.2 pct

 

Nigeria's Diamond Bank said on Wednesday its nine month pretax profit fell to 23.74 billion naira ($143.66 million), down 7.2 percent from a year ago.

Revenue rose to 120.03 billion naira during the period to Sept. 30, against 106.95 billion naira last year, the bank said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The mid-tier lender appointed a new chief executive Uzoma Dozie last week to replace its former head who retired voluntarily.

Mobil Nigeria doubles 9-month pre-tax profit to 7.89 bln naira

 

Nigerian fuel marketer Mobil said its 9-month pre-tax profit climbed to 7.89 billion naira ($47.75 million), more than doubled from a year ago.

It said revenue also rose to 60.71 billion naira during the period to Sept. 30, against 58.73 billion naira in the same period of last year.

The company said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Nigeria's SevenUp Bottling Co. 9-month profit up 16.2 pct

 

 Nigeria's soft drinks firm SevenUp Bottling Co said its 9-month pre-tax profit climbed to 3.23 billion naira ($19.55 million), up 16.18 percent from a year ago.

Revenue also rose to 38.14 billion naira during the period to Sept. 30, against 33.82 billion naira in the same period of last year, the company said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

 Nigerian Stock Exchange joins World Federation

The Nigerian Stock Exchange became a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges on Tuesday, just as it prepares to woo Asian fund managers.

It's taken three years for the West African exchange to win approval based on proper regulation by bodies including the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Central Securities Clearing System.

The federation sent an assessment team to Nigeria last month and the Nigerian Stock Exchange announced in a statement that it received a unanimous vote for admission as a full member at the general assembly of the federation Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea.

CEO Oscar Onyema said it is a step forward in the Nigerian exchange's integration with global financial markets.

The main board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange currently lists 190 equities with a market cap of more than $83 billion.

The membership comes the same year Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and its most populous nation of about 160 million, rebased its economy to overtake South Africa as the largest on the continent.

The Nigerian exchange is only the fifth in Africa to join the federation. The others are based in South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Okonjo-Iweala says Nigeria needs $5bn to sustain economy, insists country not broke

 

The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has disclosed that for Nigeria to sustain its present economic stability, about $5 billion should be put in the excess crude, account which has been depleted to $4.1 billion.

Speaking when she appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance and National Planning on the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) as a working document for the 2015 budget, she said that the constant sharing of money from the fund had left it low.

She, however, maintained that Nigeria was not broke.

Gold rises as U.S. data puts dollar under pressure

 

Gold prices rose on Tuesday as softer than expected U.S. data pressured the dollar, but moves were muted ahead of a closely-watched Federal Reserve meeting starting later on Tuesday.

The Fed is tipped to announce the end of its massive bond-buying stimulus programme, known as quantitative easing (QE), at the conclusion of the two-day meeting on Wednesday.

Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,230.05 an ounce by 1449 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 80 cents an ounce at $1,230.10.

Brent oil steadies around $86 as weak dollar offsets data

 

Brent crude oil steadied around $86 a barrel on Tuesday, as a rally in European equities and a fall in the dollar offset weak U.S. data.

U.S. durable goods orders in September fell by 1.3 percent, the country's Commerce Department said, a day after a survey showed the U.S. services sector expanding at the slowest rate since April.

The data pointed to slowing oil demand, but also helped to drive down the U.S. dollar, supporting oil prices. A weaker dollar helps global consumers buy dollar-denominated commodities such as oil.

Oil gained further support from strength in European stock markets. A number of blue-chip companies posted better-than-expected results, alluding to recovering growth in the continent's energy demand.  

GSK Nigeria 9-month pre-tax profit falls 25.9 pct

 

The Nigerian unit of drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday said its 9-month pretax profit fell 25.9 percent to 2.06 billion naira, compared with 2.78 billion naira the previous year.

Turnover however rose to 23.21 billion naira during the nine months to the end of September, from 21.33 billion naira in the same period of last year, the company said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Unilever Nigeria 9-month pre-tax profit falls 49 pct

 

Unilever Nigeria said on Tuesday its nine month to September pre-tax profit fell 49 percent to 2.54 billion naira ($15.38 million), compared with 5.03 billion naira a year earlier.

Revenue of the household product maker also dropped to 43.63 billion naira, from 45.61 billion naira in the previous period, the company said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Nigeria sees cocoa export revenues up 45 pct in 2 years

 

Nigeria Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adeshina say the country expects to earn $1.3 billion from cocoa exports this year, an increase of 45 percent on two years ago, after a steady rise in output that could help shift Africa's top economy away from its reliance on oil.

Adesina, said the world's fourth biggest cocoa producer was set produce 370,000 tonnes this year from its 14 major producing areas, up from the 250,000 tonnes that earned it $900 million in 2012.

Nigeria's central bank cuts limit on banks' foreign currency borrowings

                                     
The Central Bank of Nigeria said it will cut the limit on banks' foreign currency borrowings to 75 percent of shareholders’ funds from 200 percent.

The new regulation, in a document dated Oct. 24, replaces a 2001 rule capping foreign borrowings at 200 percent of shareholders’ funds.

It also requires banks to have adequate liquid foreign assets including cash and government securities to cover maturing foreign obligations and a contingency arrangement with other financial institutions to cover loan repayment.

The bank is trying to manage exchange rate risks and curb pressures on the naira from excess demand for dollars.

Angola central bank raises benchmark rate by 25 bps to 9.0 pct

 Angola central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 9 percent, saying this was in line with maintaining price stability in the economy.

S&P downgrades Ghana one notch over high fiscal deficit

 

Standard & Poor's downgraded Ghana's sovereign rating by one notch on Friday citing concerns about the cost of financing the country's high fiscal deficit and doubts about whether the government can reduce it quickly enough.

The decision to lower the rating to "B-" with a stable outlook from "B" with a negative outlook appears to contradict government comments about the impact of a possible deal with the International Monetary Fund to stabilize the economy.

Finance Minister Seth Terkper told Reuters the decision was a surprise and does not reflect government progress in stabilizing the macro economy or prospects for the IMF deal.

Ghana's economy has grown rapidly in recent years through exports of gold, cocoa and oil but the 2014 forecast is weighed down by fiscal problems such as rising inflation, a currency that has fallen sharply and a budget deficit above 10 percent.

Mali eyes $9.5 bln rail projects to unlock iron ore, bauxite deposits

 

 Landlocked Mali aims to diversify its mining sector away from gold with Chinese-built rail projects worth $9.5 billion that would link it to the Atlantic coast, even as slowing Chinese growth and falling commodity prices cool investment.

The West African nation - the continent's third-largest gold producer - said last month it had signed a string of investment deals with China totalling $11 billion, with most of this going to finance the rail deals. Chinese authorities, however, have not confirmed the investment.

Mali said $8 billion would finance a 900-km (560-mile) railway to Guinea's port capital Conakry and $1.5 billion would renovate a rail link to Senegal's capital Dakar, Mali's main gateway port.

Reuters reports that the improved transport links would attract investors to under-explored resources such as iron ore, bauxite and uranium that are bulkier and more costly to transport than gold.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is striving to kick start Mali's economy after a brief French-led war in early 2013 against northern Islamist rebels dragged it into recession. Last week it also became the sixth West African country to be touched by the deadly Ebola virus, which has killed nearly 5,000 people and hammered regional trade.

Nigerian naira falls 0.15 pct despite oil firm dlr sales

 

The Nigerian naira weakened marginally by 0.15 percent against the dollar on the interbank market on Monday, on a renewed surge in dollar demand despite about $112 million in sales by an oil company.

A unit of French oil major Total sold about $112 million to some lenders on Monday, but was insufficient to support the naira.

The local currency fell to 165 to the dollar compared with 164.74 it closed at on Friday, due to increased dollar demand from importers and corporations stocking up for year-end sales.

The naira had recovered from a 7-month low last week, as the central bank took steps to it prop up.

The local currency has come under pressure in the last five weeks owing to concerns over falling global oil prices, which led to offshore investors cutting back their positions in the local debt market and repatriating their funds.