Market News

BY  Christian Akorlie, Chris Mfula, Hereward Holland, Elias Biryabarema and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo

Aug 22 (Reuters) – The Kenyan and Ugandan shillings are expected to strengthen against the dollar in the coming week to Thursday, while Zambia’s kwacha and Ghana’s cedi are seen weakening and Nigeria’s naira as holding steady, traders said.

KENYA

Kenya’s shilling is expected to firm slightly in the coming week as foreign currency demand from the manufacturing and fuel sector appears to have waned.

Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 128.50/129.50 per dollar on Thursday, the same level it closed last Thursday.

“I’m hoping a bit more demand might come onto the market, or it’s likely to strengthen,” said one trader at a commercial bank.

NIGERIA

Nigeria’s naira is seen holding steady around current levels on the official market next week amid expectations that the central bank will sell dollars to ease rising demand.

LSEG data showed the naira was quoted at 1,580 to the dollar on the official market on Thursday, around the same level a week ago. The unit sold at about 1,605 on the parallel market on Thursday.

This week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported a record $553 million in remittance inflows for July, a 130% rise from a year ago.

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“The major take is that importers expect the CBN will intervene in the market, which will help to clear outstanding demand,” one trader said.

GHANA

Ghana’s cedi is likely to slip next week as investors looked to purchase hard currency amid poor forex supply.

LSEG data showed the cedi trading at 15.58 to the dollar, from 15.55 at last Thursday’s close.

“After a couple of weeks of relative strength, the cedi faltered a bit following the government’s coupon payment on the DDEP (Domestic Debt Exchange Programme) bonds as investors looked to purchase hard currency,” Sedem Dornoo, a senior trader at Absa Bank Ghana, said.

“We expect to see some more pressure on the local unit next week but do not reckon the pair will rise too high, especially amidst continued support from the central bank, who’ve sold roughly $71 million in three 7-day FX forward auctions in the past week,” he added.

Another trader said the central bank’s intervention had helped to save the cedi from steep losses against the dollar.

UGANDA

The Ugandan shilling is seen trading with a strengthening tone in the coming days as typical end-month inflows of hard currency from some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) lend support to the local currency, traders said.

Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,707/3,717 on Thursday, compared to the last Thursday’s close of 3,720/3,730.

“Charity flows are expected as we head into the last days of the month, the local unit will draw a bit of support from that,” said an independent foreign exchange trader.

Charities convert part of their donations which they receive in hard currency to shillings to meet end-month operational expenses.

ZAMBIA

Zambia’s kwacha is likely to come under mild pressure against the dollar next week due to sustained greenback demand from importers amidst scant supply.

On Thursday, the currency of Africa’s second-largest copper producer was trading at 25.9220 per dollar from 26.2500 a week ago.

“With inflows thinning out and demand picking up, we anticipate the local unit to weaken slightly in the short term,” Zambia National Commercial Bank said in a note.

(Reporting by Christian Akorlie, Chris Mfula, Hereward Holland, Elias Biryabarema and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by David Holmes)