Author: Marketforces Africa

2026 Budget: Tinubu Signals Ruthless Crackdown on Armed Groups President Bola Tinubu has signalled a tougher, more ruthless crackdown on armed groups and individuals who finance, harbour or facilitate violent crimes across the country. Tinubu made this known on Friday in Abuja while addressing a joint session of the National Assembly during the presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill of N58.18 trillion. He stated that all armed groups would be treated as terrorists and emphasised that every naira allocated to security in the 2026 budget must result in improved safety for Nigerians. The president said national security remained the foundation…

Fitch Downgrades Gabon’s Issuer Default Ratings Fitch Ratings has downgraded Gabon’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC-‘ from ‘CCC’ and Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) IDR to ‘CC’ from ‘CCC’.  The downgrade of Gabon’s IDRs reflects the country’s heightened liquidity strains, tight local debt market, and wide fiscal deficit among others. Ratings analysts said widening fiscal deficits, increasingly limited regional debt market access, a dearth of official creditor financing and high amortisations have resulted in severe strains on domestic and external government liquidity and rising arrears. Fitch highlighted that the significantly higher local-currency funding needs and greater strains in…

Forex Reforms Attract Unprecedented Investments – NGX Boss Dr Umaru Kwairanga, Group Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), says the foreign exchange reforms initiated by President Bola Tinubu has attracted unprecedented investments into the country. Kwairanga said this in an interview with the news agency on Saturday in Gombe. He described the reforms as painful but necessary pathway to economic prosperity and development, which resulted to a unified and realistic exchange rate boosting investor confidence and attracting foreign direct investments in the country. Kwairanga said that a lot of gains had been recorded in terms of improved foreign exchange accessibility, increased…

Global Credit Resilience to Face Major Tests in 2026 – Fitch Global credit begins 2026 with a generally benign outlook, despite lacklustre economic conditions and significant uncertainties that will keep risks elevated. Fitch Ratings expects the credit resilience seen in 2025 to continue. According to Fitch, the AI investment boom, which counterbalanced negative economic pressures, especially in the US, and underpinned highly favourable funding and liquidity conditions shows little sign of slowing, even as concerns about the risk of malinvestment and over-extended valuations have grown. It said fiscal support in major economies including the US and China, and a return…

US Private Credit Defaults Broaden Across Sectors, Rises to 5.7% Fitch Ratings’ U.S. Private Credit Default Rate (PCDR) increased to 5.7% for the TTM ending November 2025, up from 5.2% in October. This is the highest since February 2025. The PCDR comprises two components: the Model-based Credit Opinion (MCO) default rate and the Privately Monitored Rating (PMR) default rate. In November, the MCO default rate increased to 4.6% from 4.3%, while the PMR default rate jumped to 9.3% from 7.7%. Default activity rose sharply across the PCDR universe in November. Fitch recorded 13 default events, more than double the year…

Oil Prices Below $60 on Russia-Ukraine Peace Optimism Global prices of crude oil are tracking below $60 per barrel on Friday as markets price in optimism over Russia-Ukraine ongoing peace agreement discussions. Brent crude was trading at $59.40 per barrel, down around 0.06% from the previous close of $59.44. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also decreased by about 0.08% to $55.82, compared to $55.87 in the prior session. At a press conference at the White House, US President Donald Trump called on Kyiv to “move quickly on an agreement” ahead of Russia-Ukraine talks planned to be held in Miami…

U.S. Inflation Eases to 2.7% amid Shutdown Distortions In November 2025, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed signs of cooling amid data distortions from a government shutdown, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reporting a 0.2% increase over the two months from September to November (no monthly data available for October). The annual headline inflation rate eased to 2.7% from 3.0%, below economist expectations of 3.1%, reflecting a downward bias in the report due to missing observations. The 43-day federal government shutdown prevented the BLS from collecting most price data for October, leading to the cancellation of the…

Financial Stocks Drive Volume as Investors Gain N332bn Equity investors gained about N332 billion as financial stocks continue to drive transaction volume ahead of the fourth quarter earnings season. The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-share index closed stronger again and key performance indicators advanced as traders boost their positions. Due to bargain hunting, the market index and total value of listed stocks increased by 35 basis points during the trading session on Thursday. Stockbrokers said the sustained rally reflects continued bargain hunting by market actors, supported by sustained buying interest in selective stocks. There was strong demand for NESTLE, ELLAHLAKES, UACN,…

NIPC Facilitates $10bn Investments in 2025 — Rimi The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) said it facilitated over $10 billion in investment commitments in 2025. Ms Aisha Rimi, NIPC’s Executive Secretary, during a Media Parley on Thursday in Abuja, said it also supported the creation of more than 5,000 direct jobs across key sectors of the economy in the period. Rimi said capital importation rose significantly during the year, with $5.2 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025, up from $3.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2024. The executive secretary, represented by Mr Abubakar Yerima, Director, Strategic Services,…

Oil Prices Tighten over Demand, Supply Uncertainties Oil prices were restricted below $60 per barrel in the global commodity market due to demand and supply uncertainties. Though tracking below $60 mark, oil prices have seen a mild recovery, having plunged to $58 level due to US-Venezuela tensions. Investors have locked in profits while reassessing outlook, with signs of elevated supply and softer demand conditions with unresolved geopolitical tensions. Brent crude was trading at $59.87 per barrel, down around 0.5% from the previous close of $60.17. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also decreased by about 0.5% to $56.24, compared to…