Nigeria’s 2016 Budget Deficit Widen As Oil Price Slump

Nigeria’s 2016 Budget Deficit Widen As Oil Price Slump

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — The Nigeria’s 2016 budget deficit is estimated at 36 percent after oil prices dropped below the $38 per barrel benchmark estimate set by Africa’s largest economy.    The gap will increase to NGN 3 trillion  (US$15.1 billion) from NGN 2.2 trillion, or 3 percent of gross domestic product, and will remain within the “comfort zone for the international credit rating agencies,” Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun stated in an e-mailed statement on Thursday.   The…

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Scrapping of fuel subsidies to save Nigeria US$5 billion

Scrapping of fuel subsidies to save Nigeria US$5 billion

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — Nigeria’s government, which relies on oil for about two-thirds of its revenue, sees a silver lining to the plunge in crude prices because it will no longer have to subsidize fuel, Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo stated. “Lower oil prices also mean there is some advantage,” Osinbajo said in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. The decline “means that we are not paying any subsidies, which…

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Central Bank of Kenya Retains CBR at 11.5% and KBRR at 9.87%

Central Bank of Kenya Retains CBR at 11.5% and KBRR at 9.87%

Nairobi, Kenya, Capital Market in Africa — The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on Wednesday 20 January 2016 to review market development and the outcome of its previous monetary policy decision.  The MPC decided to keep the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 11.5 percent for the fifth time in a row. The rate has been retained since early July. It was first raised in May 2015 to 10 per cent,…

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Foreign Portfolio Investors are net sellers on the Nigeria’s Bourse in 2015

Foreign Portfolio Investors are net sellers on the Nigeria’s Bourse in 2015

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — The total transactions at Nigerian Stock Exchange fell 41.72 percent from NGN 189.72 billion recorded in January to NGN 110.56 billion (about US$0.56 billion) in December 2015. This represents a decrease of 13.49% from N127.8 billion recorded in November. Likewise, Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) transactions decreased by 33.39 percent from NGN1,538.92 billion recorded at the end of 2014 to NGN 1,025.07 billion at the end of 2015. Out of…

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IMF Cuts South Africa’s and Nigeria’s Economic Growth Forecast for 2016

IMF Cuts South Africa’s and Nigeria’s Economic Growth Forecast for 2016

LONDON, Capital Markets in Africa — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently published the latest update to its world economic outlook. The document is tagged “Subdued Demand, Diminished Prospects”. In the January publication, the global economic prospects is  downgraded to projected at 3.4 percent in 2016 (compare to 3.6 percent in October 2015 forecast) and 3.6 percent in 2017 (3.8 percent in October 2015 release). The pickup in global activity is projected to be more…

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Africa Equity Weekly | 15 Jan 2016: Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa in red … Mauritius, Tunis in green

Africa Equity Weekly | 15 Jan 2016: Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa in red … Mauritius, Tunis in green

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — The global market’s poor start to the year continued this week as investors sold off on equities and junk bonds globally in a flight to safety due to increasing downside risk of a hard landing in China, credit defaults in high yield junk bonds, weaker global growth and softer commodity prices. Brent crude traded below the US$30.0pb line on Friday, with broader analysts’ outlook of a bottom ranging…

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African Sovereign Eurobond 2015 Review: Eurobond issuance steady at $6.75billion, but with a higher premium

African Sovereign Eurobond 2015 Review: Eurobond issuance steady at $6.75billion, but with a higher premium

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — The year 2015 was a challenging year for African economies as a result of falling commodity prices, lower demand from China and the hike in the US Fed rates. In spite of this, the Eurobond issuance by African sovereigns still came to US$6.750 billion for 2015 compared to the record US$8.7 billion issued in 2014.  The market value weighted average issue yield is at 7.90 percent (a higher premium compared to other emerging economy Eurobonds)….

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