Author: Marketforces Africa

Nigerian Bond Trading on Hold Ahead of Inflation Data The average yield on Nigerian government bond was steadied in the secondary market due to subdued trading activities. The benchmark yield ended the trading session flat at 19.41% ahead of the inflation data release. Bondholders in the fixed-interest securities market have been taking cautious positions with a bearish sentiment on expectation that the consumer price index would race higher. The quiet trading activities in the bond market came on the back of the Debt Management Office plan to reopen the 2029 and 2031 papers, offering ₦60 billion each. Also, fixed income…

To bolster liquidity levels in the autonomous foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold $84 million to authorised dealer banks at the FX auction conducted yesterday.

2025 BUDGET: The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has proposed the sum of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year for submission to the National Assembly on Monday.

Nigeria Approves $2.2bn External Borrowing Plan – Finance Minister Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved $2.2 billion financing programme for external borrowing, including a potential Eurobond and Sukuk bond offer. Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, made this known while briefing newsmen after the FEC meeting on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. “We just had the Federal Executive Council meeting, and I am privileged to present two memoranda to the Federal Executive Council. ” The first one was to complete the borrowing programme of the Federal Government in terms of external…

Naira Depreciates Ahead of 2-Week Automated FX Trading Trial The naira depreciated against the US dollar in the official exchange rate market over a liquidity shortage. The volume of US dollar demand was a bit more than FX liquidity on the supply side. Spot rates have worsened across the black and Nigerian autonomous foreign exchange markets due to a slowdown in FX intervention sales.  FX spot data from the FMDQ platform showed that the naira depreciated by 0.29%, closing at N1,650.20 per US dollar at the official market. FX traders are expecting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release…

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation lost more than N148 billion on Thursday as sell pressures hit BUA Cement…

Afreximbank Prices Debut Samurai Bonds, Raises JPY81.3 billion African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has successfully priced its debut Samurai bond, securing a regular 5 tranche JPY 67.2 billion consisting of 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, and 10-year fixed rate tranches.  Concurrently, the Bank launched its inaugural Retail Samurai bond with a 3-year fixed-rated tranche valued at JPY 14.1 billion. The bonds are rated ‘A-‘ by Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. as the sole lead manager for the transaction. According to Afreximbank, debut bond transaction represents the first Samurai bond offering by an African-based Multilateral Development Bank (“MDB”) paving…

Fitch Downgrades Republic of Congo after Debt Exchange Deal Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Republic of Congo’s Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘Restricted Default’ (RD) from ‘CCC+’ following the execution of an exchange of local-currency bonds. In a rating note, Fitch expressed belief that the exchange constituted a default event as outlined in its Sovereign Rating Criteria published 24 October 2024. Fitch has subsequently taken additional actions, reflecting the completion of the debt exchange. The rating agency published a rating review following a material change in the creditworthiness of the issuer, which analysts believe makes it inappropriate to…

Dollar Rises Ahead of US Fed Jerome Powell Speech The US dollar rose against its major trading partners early Thursday ahead of the release of weekly jobless claims data and producer prices data for October. The markets prepare for an appearance by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell will be part of a discussion on the economic outlook but is likely to be asked about the independence of the Fed, a topic addressed at length in a speech earlier Thursday by Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who said that the studies show a link between greater central bank independence and lower…

The money market rates heated up further due to deficit balance in the financial system. The short-term benchmark rates continue to surge in the week after successive primary auction sales caused huge outflow in recent past week.