Author: Olu Anisere

Moody’s Downgrades Senegal Ratings, Maintains Negative Outlook Moody’s Ratings has downgraded the Government of Senegal’s long-term foreign currency and local currency issuer and foreign currency senior unsecured ratings to Caa1 from B3 and maintained the negative outlook. The short-term issuer ratings have been affirmed at Not Prime, the global ratings agency said in its latest update on the country. Moody’s said the downgrade reflects increased risks to Senegal’s debt trajectory and liquidity since our February 2025 rating action. Ratings analysts said a subsequent reconciliation exercise has led to a debt estimated at 119% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024,…

US Dollar Inflow into Nigeria Market Slumps by 5.7% to $3.2bn US dollar inflows into the Nigerian foreign exchange market (NFEM) declined by 5.7% in September, according to data cited by the investment firm Cordros Capital Limited. Despite the slowdown, the naira was able to breach the psychological barrier for the first time since Q1 over elevated offshore investors’ confidence in Nigerian markets. Both the equities and fixed income markets attracted offshore investors’ attention, with US dollar flows supported by activities of foreign direct investors. According to data from FMDQ, total inflows into the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) declined…

Technology, Key to Building Investors in Capital Market – SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says technology is key to strengthening investors’ confidence and transforming the country’s capital market. Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director-General of SEC, said this at a message to celebrate the 2025 Customers Service Week. In a statement by the commission in Abuja on Sunday, Agama said SEC was embracing digital innovation as a core part of its service strategy to enhance transparency, efficiency, and accessibility in the market. He said the digitisation of SEC processes, deployment of new online service portals, and enhanced engagement with…

Moody’s Upgrades Ghana’s Credit Ratings, Changes Outlook Moody’s Ratings has upgraded the Government of Ghana’s long-term foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings to Caa1 from Caa2 and changed the outlook to stable from positive. Ratings analysts said they have also upgraded Ghana’s foreign currency senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from Caa2 and the foreign and local currency senior unsecured MTN program ratings to (P)Caa1 from (P)Caa2. According to Moody’s, the upgrade reflects improved prospects for debt reduction, where we project Ghana’s public debt ratio to decline to less than 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end…

Foreign Investors’ Demand for Naira Boosts Exchange Rate Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) requiring naira to stake bets in Nigerian markets and the fixed income and equities market helped strengthen the value of the local currency, the naira, with support from Apex Bank’s dollar injection. Nigerian markets saw a flood of dollars chasing naira assets during the week, helping the naira to maintain positive momentum against the greenback. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also injected $22 million into forex market to reduce FX demand pressures. Since its return to managing excess liquidity in the financial system, the CBN has floated…

EU Commission Probes US Social Media The European Commission is demanding information from U.S platforms Apple, Snapchat, Google and YouTube over allegations of insufficient child protection, European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said on Friday. European Union legislation “clearly says that when minors are using online services, very high levels of privacy, security, and safety have to be ensured,” Virkkunen said. “This is not always the case,” she added, as she arrived at a meeting of EU ministers in charge of telecommunications in the Danish city of Horsens. Officials seek the information to assess measures taken by Snapchat, YouTube, Apple Store…

Oil Prices Fall as Hamas, Israel Inch Near Ceasefire Deal Oil prices fell Friday after Israel and Hamas reached the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, easing geopolitical tensions that had supported prices in recent months. Brent crude was trading at $64.66 per barrel at 09.42 a.m. local time (0642 GMT), down 0.5% from the previous close of $64.99. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased by 0.5% to $60.82 from $61.16 in the prior session. The cease-fire, confirmed late Thursday, includes Israeli troop withdrawals, the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, the entry of humanitarian aid into…

NGX Indexes Close Green Amidst Huge Cross Deals The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) sectoral performance was relatively impressive, with five out of six indexes closing positively on Thursday. The positive sectoral performance came amidst huge cross deals among significant investors. Block trades, deals often conducted outside the Nigerian Exchange trading platform, help in price stability and have become a growing trend in recent times. Stockbrokers said it helped influential investors’ foray into the local market easy and faster with lower risk than open market transactions. Trading result from the local bourse showed that industrial and insurance indices led market rally on…

Money Market Rates Stable, Financial System Liquidity Tempers Money market funding costs were steadied due to rounds of outflow for settlement of Treasury and OMO bills auctions conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In one swoop, banking system surplus funds reduced by more than half since the Apex Bank started its liquidity mop-up action last week. There have been three open market operations since last week. Also, the CBN also started its Q4 Treasury bills auction during the week, helping to reduce funding gluts in the financial system. On Thursday, the market liquidity moderated but remained robust at…

US Dollar Index Hovers at 2-Month High in Fresh Rally The US dollar index (DXY) hovered around 98.9 on Thursday, holding near a 2-month high after gaining 0.9% over the previous three sessions, supported largely by weakness in other major currencies. Market developments are supporting the US dollar rally, though with intermittent sell-offs as sentiment is weak on the economic outlook. Fed funds rate cuts Optimism persisted after FOMC minutes revealed a consensus to drive employment and achieve a 2% inflation rate. The dollar was sold off as investors shifted attention to safe haven assets amidst the U.S. government shutdown.…