Author: Marketforces Africa

CBN Sells N7.12trn OMO Bills to Investors in Q2 The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold OMO bills worth N7.12 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 to eligible investors, banks, and foreign portfolio investors to manage excess liquidity in the financial system. The Apex Bank floated eight OMO auctions in the last three months to combat excess liquidity and keep money market rate in check. The monetary authority aggregate offer was N4.5 trillion across the standard tenors. The total of OMO bills allotted to investors in the first quarter settled at N7.12 trillion despite one no-sale auction being recorded,…

Private Sector Business Confidence Highest Since 2022 –PMI The Nigerian private sector remained in growth territory as the first half of 2025 drew to a close, and business confidence improved markedly in June, according to Stanbic IBTC purchasing manager index report released by Standard & Poor global rating. The report highlighted that rates of expansion in output, new orders, and purchasing eased from May. Although rates of inflation remained relatively sharp, there were further signs of cost pressures softening, and companies raised their output prices at the slowest pace in just over two years The headline PMI remained above the…

Dangote Cement Slides on Post-AGM Sell Pressures Dangote Cement Plc’s market value declined by more than N253 billion in the equities market as investors exited positions ahead of the second quarter of 2025 earnings season. The share price of Dangote Cement declined to N425 on Tuesday after data showed 729,630 units valued at N310.483 million were traded on the Nigerian Exchange. Hence, Dangote Cement Plc.’s 16.873 billion shares outstanding in the market were valued at N7.171 trillion after it lost N253.103 billion from an open market value of N7.4243 trillion. At the current market valuation, Dangote Cement is trading at…

Naira Hovers at N1529, Exchange Rates Gap Now N31 The naira was relatively unchanged against the US dollar in forex market on Tuesday in the absence of significant demand pressures. The Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) rate ended that day at N1529 per dollar. Currently, the volume of US dollars remains substantial to cover aggregate FX demand in the official window. This has kept the local currency exchange rate strong against the greenback, supported by foreign investors’ confidence, exporters’ inflows, and the Central Bank’s sustained interventions. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that the naira appreciated to N1529.57…

AfDB Approves $474.6m Loan to Support South Africa’s Infrastructure The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a $474.6 million loan for South Africa’s Infrastructure Governance and Green Growth Programme (IGGGP). This financing marks a significant milestone in the country’s transition toward a sustainable, low-carbon economy. This IGGGP is the second phase of the Bank’s strategic support for South Africa’s Just Energy Transition. It builds on the success of the $300 million Energy Governance and Climate Resilience Programme, approved in 2023, which delivered key reforms that bolstered financial stability and increased renewable energy capacity. Structured…

FG Unveils $40m ICT Project to Digitise Tertiary Education The Federal Government (FG) on Tuesday unveiled a forty million-dollar ICT project aimed at digitising and transforming tertiary education in Nigeria. Known as the Blueprint ICT Development (Blueprint-ICT-Dev) Project, the initiative is funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and will be implemented across 10 federal universities. Speaking during the unveiling in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the project underscored a renewed national commitment to human capital development, digital transformation, and inclusive education. “This project is a strategic investment in the future of Nigerian education. It’s about…

Equities Investors Lost N150bn as Dangote Names Plunge Equities investors lost more than N150 billion in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), driven by a reduction in the market value of Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, and other decliners. The domestic equities market ended trading activities on a negative, causing key market performance indicators to shed 0.20%. Despite a largely positive market breadth, the negative close was driven by sustained sell pressure in high-cap stocks, notably Ticker: DANGCEM, DANGSUGAR, ZENITHBANK, and others. This marks the fourth consecutive session of profit-taking, resulting in a cumulative loss of approximately ₦960 billion in investors’…

High Short-term Debt: GCR Downgrades Mecure Industries Rating GCR Ratings (GCR) has downgraded Mecure Industries Plc’s national scale long-term and short-term issuer ratings to BBB (NG) and A3(NG) from BBB+(NG) and A2(NG), respectively. Concurrently, GCR also downgraded the long-term issue rating of Mecure Industries Funding SPV Plc’s NGN3Bn Series 1 Senior Secured Bond to BBB(NG)(EL) from BBB+(NG)(EL). The outlook on the ratings has been revised to negative from stable previously, GCR said, adding that the downgrade of Mecure Industries Plc’s ratings reflects the marked deterioration in its liquidity profile due to the high short-term debt accumulation to finance expanded working…

UBA, Nestle Nigeria Drive Intraday Rally in Equities Market UBA and Nestle Nigeria Plc are currently driving the equities market uptrend, according to intraday trading data from the Nigerian Exchange. The local bourse is going positive as buying momentum in some banking names and other sectoral indexes has started to push key performance indicators upward after three days of market corrections. The exchange has been bleeding after a series of uptrends that looked like head fakes as a number of stocks with weak fundamentals thrived on sentiment. At midday, the NGX All Share Index recorded an increase of 0.09%, Alpha…

Oil Prices Decline on OPEC+ Output Plan Implementation Oil prices declined as markets braced for a potential output increase by the OPEC+ alliance and rising fears that looming US tariffs could drag down the world’s largest oil-consuming economy. Eight OPEC+ countries have announced that they will increase oil output by 411 kb/d in July 2025 from the June 2025 required production level, a production hike larger than originally expected. The OPEC+ countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, had originally planned to raise output by 134 kb/d in July 2025. In early May 2025,…