Author: Marketforces Africa

Kenya’s Bond Buyback Eases Refinance Risks –Moody’s Kenya’s bond buyback has eased the country’s medium term refinance risks, according to Moody’s commentary note. Recall that Kenyan government recently issued a $1.5 billion Eurobond as part of a liability management operation and will use the issuance proceeds to buy back $900 million of its outstanding 2027 Eurobond, and the remainder for budgetary financing. In a commentary note, Moody’s said the bond issuance and buyback will reduce the sovereign’s immediate financing needs. The Eurobond is Kenya’s second international bond issuance in the past 12 months, with proceeds from both used to buy…

Bybit Crypto Heist: 5 Key Lessons to Prevent a Repeat Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was the victim of what is being widely reported as the single largest digital theft in history. Hackers extracted approximately $1.5bn (£1.2bn) from an Ethereum wallet and transferred the contents to a new, unlocatable address. The platform has assured users of its liquidity—despite a significant increase in the volume of withdrawals in the wake of the breach—promising refunds to all affected users even if the stolen money is not recovered. According to Osama Bari, Chief Technology Officer at D24 Fintech Group, exchanges that comply with a…

Futureview Guides Investors on Stocks to Buy, Hold or Sell The market is poised for a positive trend, driven by renewed investor interest in undervalued stocks, Futureview Financial services Limited said in a note. The firm said favorable corporate actions and strong earnings reports are expected to boost sentiment and support market recovery. Last week, the local bourse ended the trading sessions on negative note with investors losing more than N421 billion. The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.62% Week-on-Week to close at 107,821.39 points, down from 108,497.40 points in the prior week. This downturn was primarily…

Naira Stability, Soft Inflation Boost Private Sector Activity in Feb -PMI Nigeria’s private sector activity improved in February due to stable exchange rate, and softening inflation which boosted consumer demand, according to the Stanbic IBTC Purchasing Manager Index released by S&P Global. Rates of expansion in output, new orders and purchasing activity all quickened as demand picked up and inflationary pressures showed signs of moderating. That said, with costs continuing to rise sharply, some companies were reluctant to hire additional staff and employment increased only marginally. The headline PMI rose to 53.7 in February from 52.0 in January, signalling a…

Trump Fires Starting Gun on ‘Crypto Arms Race’ with Strategic Reserve The global “crypto arms race” is on with Donald Trump announcing a strategic US reserve of digital assets, the stakes have skyrocketed, predicts the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and asset management organizations. The comments from deVere Group’s Nigel Green come as President Donald Trump announced the creation of a “strategic crypto reserve” that will include Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana’s SOL token and Cardano’s ADA, in a post on Truth Social. This is the first time Trump has specified his support for a crypto…

Nigeria Bonds Yield Falls to 18.5% as Investors Take Positions The average yield on Nigerian government bonds fell in the secondary market as investors continued to lock in profit on the back of new market dynamics. The inflation rate fell sharply in January, but the monetary policy authority adopted a wait-and-see approach with a pause on a hawkish stance and kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged. The decision brought in new market dynamics—a positive real return—that have not been experienced in Nigeria’s financial markets for a long period. Due to some buying activities, the average yield declined to 18.53%, according…

PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc topped stock market performers with more than 31% gain over the last five trading session on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform.

CBN to Open N650bn Nigerian Treasury Bills for Subscription The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is scheduled to conduct a primary market auction (PMA) where the authority will offer N650 billion worth of Nigerian Treasury bills (NTB) to investors for subscription. The offers are expected to be split across standard maturities: 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day amidst declining spot rates. At the previous auction, the CBN sold about ₦774.13 billion, while total subscriptions settled at ₦2.408 trillion. The breakdown showed investors showed preference for longer duration bills. This afforded the CBN the opportunity to reduce price spot rates on the competitive…

Nigerian Treasury Bills Yield Falls by 3.5% in Feb. The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills declined by about 3.5% in February as a result of increased demand in the secondary market. The rising demand for naira assets followed a change in market dynamics that triggered a positive real return on naira assets.  Nigeria’s inflation rate of 24.48% tracked behind the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) benchmark interest rate of 27.5%. Hence, investors started locking in profit as spot rates on Nigerian Treasury bills sales at the primary market auction began to reduce. Last week, fixed-interest securities investors showed special…

Money Market Rates Fall Sharply as Funding Pressures Ease Interbank rates fell as liquidity levels in the financial system increased following sizeable inflows from OMO bill and FGN bond coupon payments. Last week, the banking system liquidity opened with significant fluctuation that placed pressures on interbank rates.  The banking system opened negative territory due to liquidity constraints, which kept rates elevated. Later, money market rates declined as the amount of inflows surpassed the level of outflow of funds witnessed last week. The market was debited for the Debt Management Office (DMO) bonds auction, which temporarily absorbed some liquidity from the…