Author: Olu Anisere

Olu Anisere is a financial and economic journalist at MarketForces Africa, specialising in African macroeconomic policy, international finance, energy markets, and continental development.He covers major multilateral institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), providing readers with frontline reporting on policies shaping Africa's economic trajectory.Olu has reported extensively on Nigeria's fiscal and monetary policy landscape, including CBN interest rate decisions, Nigeria's bond market, FX inflows, and the country's engagement with global financial institutions.His coverage spans IMF and World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings, African Ministers of Finance conferences, and high-level economic forums where Africa's development agenda is set.His reporting captures perspectives from Africa's most influential economic voices, including Tony Elumelu, senior IMF officials, and CBN leadership, bringing institutional insight and policy depth to MarketForces Africa's readers.Olu also covers Inside Africa — tracking economic, investment, and development stories from across the continent. Olu Anisere is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Brent Crosses $63 as U.S Halts Venezuela Oil Supply to Cuba Brent crossed $63 per barrel on Monday after the United States said Cuba will stop receiving crude oil from Venezuela and uncertainties over the Federal Reserve policy outlook. U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington. Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces in early January amid…

Read More

Treasury Bills Yield Rises as Investors React to Rates Hike The average benchmark yield on Nigerian Treasury bills rose by 50 basis points to 18.17% in the secondary market as fixed-income market investors took profit on naira assets following an increase in spot rates at the midweek auction. Sell pressure surfaced after the Apex Bank increased spot rates on Treasury bills across the standard tenors on Wednesday. Initially, ample system liquidity supported early demand, before profit-taking and rising supply concerns gradually dampened early buying interest. At the beginning of the week, AIICO Capital Limited reported that trading was modestly bullish,…

Read More

Airtel Africa: 72% Upside Potential Spotted on New Target Price With 72% upside potential spotted, a Lagos-based investment firm, CardinalStone Securities Limited, has slightly reduced its target price for Airtel Africa Plc following a revision to its estimate. The investment firm hinted that the telecom company is relatively cheaper versus peers in the Middle East and Africa at the current stock market price. Airtel Africa Plc share price settled at N2,270 in the equities market, the position the telecom company had maintained over a long period in 2025. In spite of its solid earnings growth, Airtel Africa’s share price was…

Read More

DOT Gains, Outperforms Broader Crypto Market Performance The crypto market price of Polkadot (DOT) rose by 0.93% over the last 24h, slightly outperforming the broader crypto market (-0.43%), continuing its positive 30-day trend. Trading data indicates that DOT defended the $2.09 pivot point and 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level of $2.12 on the day, with bullish crossover in moving average convergence divergence. Polkadot will activate a major upgrade on 20 January 2026, deploying optimizations already tested on Kusama. The update reduces execution latency by 40% and allows seamless reuse of Ethereum developer tools, enhancing cross-chain interoperability. Its technical trading data resilience…

Read More

Oil Prices Surge WoW Despite Oversupply Concerns Oil prices surged week-on-week (WoW) despite oversupply concerns. Latest data showed U.S. crude inventories dipped amidst geopolitical concerns and growing expectations that Venezuelan supply could return to global markets. Brent crude traded at $62 per barrel, up by 2.1% from last Friday’s close of $60.73. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.4% to $58 per barrel, compared with $57.21 a week earlier. At the start of the week, markets weighed the potential impact of US actions in Venezuela, with prices fluctuating as geopolitical risks competed with expectations of ample supply. Concerns that…

Read More

Major Errors: Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee Response to KPMG We welcome all perspectives that contribute to a shared understanding and successful implementation of the new tax laws. We acknowledge that a few points raised by KPMG are useful, particularly where they relate to implementation risks and clerical or cross-referencing issues. However, the majority of the publication reflected a misunderstanding of the policy intent, a mischaracterisation of deliberate policy choices, and, in several instances, repetitions and presentation of opinion and preferences as facts. 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 A significant proportion of the issues described as “errors,” “gaps,” or “omissions” by…

Read More

Solana Rises as Morgan Stanley Moves to Enable SOL Trading Solana (SOLUSD) edged higher 2.53% over the last 24h, outpacing the broader crypto market, which is trading negative late on Thursday.  Price data from crypto exchanges show that SOL is hovering around $140 as its trading volume surged by about 22% to $4.74 billion in 24 hours. The price surge reflects institutional validation from Morgan Stanley, which is the first major U.S. bank seeking SEC approval for Solana-ETF, technical strength, and retail frenzy around meme coins. Morgan Stanley has announced plans to launch a digital wallet. It also filed for…

Read More

Oil Prices Below $60 as U.S.-Venezuela Negotiate Crude Sales Supply glut concerns kept oil prices movement tight on Thursday, with international benchmark Brent crude settling at $59 per barrel at the time of writing. Oil prices came under renewed pressure on Thursday after Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA said talks to sell crude to the US are progressing, while signals from Washington pointed to a selective easing of sanctions that could allow Venezuelan oil back into global markets International benchmark Brent crude stood at $59 per barrel, down 0.3%. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.2% to $56.06…

Read More

Naira Climbs to N1,418 as Foreign Reserves Hits $45.623bn The naira appreciated further against the US dollar at the Nigerian foreign exchange market, gaining N0.80 to close at N1,418.26 compared with N1,419.06 quoted the previous day. Based on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), FX largely traded within the low and high bands of N1,414.00/US$ and N1,426.00 per dollar, respectively. The exchange rate movement signalled the absence of significant pressure on the volume of dollars available at the supply side, analysts anticipate FX interventions to continuing to bridge liquidity gap. “We expect the Naira to continue trading in…

Read More

CBN Opens N1.15 Trn Worth of Treasury Bills for Subscription The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) opened N1.15 trillion worth of Nigerian Treasury bills for investors’ subscription on Wednesday. The primary market action surfaced 24 hours after the authority raised N2.71 trillion from OMO bills subscription. The aggressive mop up was met with rates that a slew of Broadstreet analysts considered healthy to attract yield-hunting investors in the fixed-income market. At the main auction, the Apex Bank offered N150 billion in Nigerian Treasury bills that will expire in 91 days for subscription. The auction circular showed that 182 days’ worth…

Read More