Author: Marketforces Africa

Somalia Unlocks Access to IMF Loan for Budget Support Somalia has unlocked access to a $10 million loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support its budget. In a statement, the IMF Executive Board announced the completion of its third review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement for Somalia, allowing for an immediate disbursement of about US$10 million to support the country’s economic reform agenda. The multilateral lender said Somalia’s economic outlook is clouded by foreign aid disruptions, weather shocks and high uncertainty, with 2025 growth expected to slow to 3 percent from an estimated 4 percent in…

Nigerian Bonds Yield Falls, Lower Rates on TBills Signals Rally The average yield on Nigerian government bonds decreased in the secondary market due to growing investor interest in naira assets amidst indications of limited supply and rate adjustments in the third quarter of the year. Having caught signals that spot rates on fixed interest securities will drop sharply, asset managers and pension fund operators, including cash-rich Nigerian banks, are pumping funds into government securities ahead of potential monetary policy easing. At the primary market auction on Wednesday, the spot rates on Nigerian Treasury bills were slashed by 2.50% on average,…

Nigeria’s $1.12 Billion Eurobond to Mature in November Nigeria’s Eurobond worth $1.12 billion will mature in November, and analysts said they expect the government to step up foreign borrowing in the latter part of the year to meet the obligation. Several analysts express views that the federal government is expected to make fresh foreign loan calls to meet internal needs and settle Eurobond maturity amidst a rising debt profile. In the first half, the government focused on the local debt capital market to meet its borrowing requirement towards financing budget deficit for 2025. Debt papers sales appear to have tempered…

OMO Outflow Tightens Liquidity, Pushes Money Market Rates to 30% Money market rates hovered around the 30% level as open market operations (OMO) auction settlement drained liquidity levels in the financial system. This happened as the Central Bank of Nigeria floated N600 billion OMO bills for subscriptions. The Apex Bank mopped up a huge sum of N1.25 trillion, thus tightening liquidity available for market participants to meet their funding demand. Some deposit money banks and other investment funds responded by borrowing from the standing lending facility in response to huge OMO outflows. The open repo rate surged by 100 basis…

First Holdco Sheds 4%, Market Value Drops to N1.2trn First Holdco Plc shed more than 4% of its market value in the equities market on Wednesday as investors ’exited positions in the oldest listed financial services company. Reflecting weak sentiment, the share price of First Holdco fell by 4.01% on the day as trading data revealed that more than 12.759 million units valued at N364.1 million were traded in the Nigerian Exchange. A slew of equity analysts said investors are already adjusting portfolios ahead of second-quarter earnings season. Some stockbrokers think banks stock price movement will be influenced by the…

GTCO Surpasses N3trn on NGX as London Trading Commences Guaranty Trust Holdings Company (Ticker: GTCO) Plc market value surpassed N3 trillion in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Wednesday over heated up demand for organ-branded financial services company. Investors increased their stakes in GTCO amidst expectation of strong earnings, improve corporate governance and healthy dividend track records. Data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that Ticker: GTCO climbed to N88 in the equities as 18.229 million shares valued at over N1.6 billion exchanged hand in the local bourse. The significant volume of GTCO shares traded pushed the financial…

Zenith Bank Crosses N2.4trn on Huge Trading Volume Zenith Bank Plc rallied in the equities market on Wednesday as investors ramped up the financial services company’s stock in the Nigerian Exchange. The bank share price surged by about 3% on the day as data from the equities market revealed that more than 23 million units valued at N1.346 billion were transacted on Wednesday. Stockbrokers said the increased activity on the bank ticker revealed investors strong appetite for Zenith Bank Plc ahead of the second quarter earnings release. Hence, the Nigerian Exchange put N2.423 trillion as the market value of Zenith…

GTCO Begins Trading in London Stock Exchange Guaranty Trust Holdings Company (Ticker: GTCO) has started to trade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Wednesday following a successfully priced primary equity offering. The banking giant is the first financial institution that is able to achieve the feat. In a statement, the financial services group said 36.4 billion of its ordinary shares have been admitted to the main market of the London Stock Exchange for immediate trading and dealing, according to a statement on its website. GTCO announced that its entire issued share capital, consisting of 36,425,229,514 shares, has today been…

CBN Opens N250bn Worth of Treasury Bills for Subscription The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is scheduled to float its first Treasury Bills valued at N250 billion for investor participation in the primary market auction (PMA) of the month. The main auction, the first in the second half of 2025, is floated on Wednesday as N130 billion worth of treasury bills expire this week. The authority is offering N250 billion across standard maturities. The Nigerian Treasury bills maturing in 91 days, worth N100 billion, will be offered for subscription midweek at the main auction. The CBN will also open N20…

UBA Business Series Targets MSMEs’ Growth Via Partnerships Building Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), is set to host another edition of its highly anticipated quarterly Business Series, with a strong focus on empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to build strong businesses that will drive lasting impact across the continent. This quarter’s session, which is the second for 2025, will be held on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at the UBA House, Marina, Lagos, and is part of the bank’s broader commitment towards business development and financial inclusion. The UBA Business Series aims to equip small business…