LUSAKA: Kenya’s currency is expected to strengthen in the next week to Thursday, while Nigeria’s, Ghana’s, Uganda’s and Zambia’s are seen broadly unchanged, traders said.
Kenya
Kenya’s shilling is expected to gain, helped by dollar inflows from foreign investors buying local bonds.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 128.90/129.40 per U.S. dollar, compared with last Thursday’s close of 129.00/129.50.
“We’re expecting inflows for the two bonds on the market in the next few days. We expecting it (the shilling) to strengthen in the coming week,” one trader said.
Kenyan shilling firms slightly, traders see more gains ahead
Nigeria
Nigeria’s naira is seen range-bound next week, supported by central bank dollar sales despite increased demand from importers after the Chinese new year holiday.
The naira was quoted at 1,506 to the dollar on the official market on Thursday, traders said, compared with a closing quote of 1,496 naira a week earlier.
The currency was changing hands at 1,570 to the dollar in street trading on Thursday.
“We have seen the rate quite stable around these levels. The central bank has been able to chest all the demand coming into the market,” a trader said, adding the exchange rate for the 2025 budget was set around these levels.
Ghana
Ghana’s cedi is expected to remain steady on matched foreign-currency supply and demand.
LSEG data showed the cedi at 15.40 to the dollar on Thursday, compared to 15.35 at last Thursday’s close.
Sedem Dornoo, a senior trader at Absa Bank Ghana, said there had been increased foreign-currency flows in recent sessions, largely from offshore participants looking to purchase cedi-denominated bonds.
“Demand for hard currency has also been lower than usual, … in the coming week we expect relative stability in the (dollar/cedi) pair with supply and demand being in equilibrium,” he added.
Uganda
Uganda’s shilling is likely to trade in a stable range, as mid-month tax payments soak up liquidity and depress the hard-currency appetite of large firms and banks.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,675/3,685 to the U.S. dollar, compared to last Thursday’s close of 3,668/3,678.
“A lot of the liquidity will be going into mid-month tax payments in the coming days, so we’ll probably see the local unit hovering around its current range,” a trader said.
He said the shilling would likely trade in the 3,660-3,680 to the dollar range in the coming days.
Zambia
Zambia’s kwacha is expected to hold steady, helped by reduced demand for hard currency.
On Thursday the kwacha was trading at 27.92 per dollar from 28.07 a week earlier.
Zambia’s central bank said on Wednesday that reduced demand for dollars in the first quarter of this year had helped stabilise the local currency, as it raised its main lending rate for the second meeting in a row to try to bring down inflation.
