Author: Marketforces Africa

Zambia Unlocks Access to Additional IMF Loans Zambia has unlocked an additional loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in a statement following discussions for the 2025 Article IV Consultation and the Fifth Review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) with a team led by Ms. Mercedes Vera Martin, IMF Mission Chief for Zambia. The Zambian authorities and the IMF team have reached a staff-level agreement on the economic policies and reforms needed to conclude the Fifth Review under the 38-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The IMF stated that Zambia’s economy proved resilient to the drought, and growth…

Dangote Cement Opens N100bn Commercial Papers for Subscription Dangote Cement Plc has opened N100 billion in commercial papers for investors’ subscription, details from its offer document revealed. The cement company launched Series 19, 20, and 21 commercial paper offers under its N300 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme on Tuesday. The amount Dangote Cement seeks to raise from the commercial papers is intended to be used to fund the company’s working capital requirement and other related short-term capital need. The company prices 93-day commercial paper at 19.9334%; 184-day commercial paper attracts 20.6103% as a discount rate, while 268-day paper is priced…

Afreximbank Hits Back at Fitch over Credit Ratings Downgrade Africa Import and Export Bank, Afreximbank has reacted to Fitch Ratings recent downgrade of its credit ratings on issues bothering on key accountings issues, and transparency relating to estimation of its non-performing loan – due to exclusion of some countries in the overall calculation. In a statement, Afreximbank said it operates under very high standards of financial transparency. The Bank’s financial reporting strictly adheres to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including IFRS 9. “This standard governs the classification and staging of loan performance, including the treatment of non-performing loans, amongst other…

Seplat Energy Earns CIPS Excellence Certificate The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) has awarded the Procurement Excellence Standard Certificate to Seplat Energy Plc. Ben Farrell, Global Chief Executive Officer of CIPS, presented the certificate on Monday at Seplat Energy’s office in Ikoyi, Lagos. Farrell was joined by a CIPS delegation and received by Seplat Energy’s Chief Operating Officer, Samson Ezugworie, and GM, Supply Chain Management, Valentine Agwu. Seplat Energy’s application for assessment against CIPS standards began in February 2023. CIPS-approved assessors reviewed Seplat Energy’s policies, procedures, and operations against multiple professional criteria during the assessment. The evaluation was…

MTN Nigeria Soars to 52-Week High, Investors Getting Inside The story has changed; many investors are trying to get inside, buying MTN Nigeria shares they have previously dumped. In the equities market, MTN Nigeria Plc soared to a 52-week high, trading at N319.20 as telecom investors began to return in anticipation of improved earnings performance in 2025. Amidst the earnings healing, the telecom stock is probably going to reach Cordros Securities Limited equities analysts’ 12-month target price set at N363.01 as investors continue to get inside. Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed MTN’s price rose to N319.20 at the…

First Holdco Surges by 18% on Huge Trading Volume First Holdco Plc’s market value surged by about 18% over 4 days of rallies driven by increased trading activities from buy-side actors in the equities market. Investors re-entered positions after the company’s annual general meeting and final dividend approval. In the first quarter, First Holdco delivered an unimpressive earnings performance. But analysts said the group’s earnings is expected to pick up, and matched its market or industry rivals in the second quarter on hope its non-interest revenue will recover. According to data from the Nigerian Exchange, First Holdco’s share price climbed…

Benchmark Yield Eased on Rising Investors’ Interest in FGN Bonds Reflecting positive sentiment, investors increased bets on the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds in the secondary market amidst tight supply by the Debt Management Office (DMO). The demand surge for the local bonds in the secondary market was driven by asset managers and other participants with huge assets under management. This caused the yield on the naira assets to fall below 19%, thus reducing government borrowing costs ahead of DMO supply for the month. Fixed income market analysts reported that trading activities in the bonds market were mixed last…

CBN to Sell Nigerian Treasury Bills at Midweek Auction The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is scheduled to hold another Treasury bill auction with N81 billion on offer for subscriptions from investors on Wednesday. The offer size will be relatively small when compared with past auction records, which received significant bids from investors. The market anticipates liquidity in the money market to tighten as the CBN could also conduct an OMO bills auction to refinance the maturing instrument. In total, the market could see a total of N345 billion mop-up from OMO bills and treasury bill auction sales in the…

China’s Foreign Reserves Rise to $3.38 Trillion China’s foreign exchange reserves inched higher by about $3 billion to $3.2853 trillion at the end of May 2025, up 0.11% from the end of April, official data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed Saturday. This marked the highest level since December 2015, driven by fiscal and monetary policies and economic growth prospects of major economies. The US Dollar Index experienced minor fluctuations, and global financial asset prices showed a mixed performance in May. The combined impact of exchange rate conversions and changes in asset prices contributed to the rise…

Equities Investors Gain N1.81trn in 4-Day Monster Rally The Nigerian equities market grew by N181 trillion in four days due to a monster rally that has persisted ahead of the second quarter economic report. Hence, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) all-share index climbed by 2.57% to close at 114,616.75 points ahead of the Sallah holiday. Stockbrokers reported that gains were recorded in all four trading sessions, underpinned by renewed investor interest in financial services, energy, telecoms, and FMCG stocks. The rally was largely driven by portfolio rebalancing activities at the onset of the new trading month, alongside tailwinds from earnings season…