According to the African Development Bank, African nations need $424 billion this year to help them cope with the downturns caused by Covid-19. Akinwumi Adeshina, the president of the African Development Bank, said, “We should not minimize the impact of Covid-19 on African economies,” in an interview with Bloomberg. Reports say the pandemic drove 30 million Africans into “extreme poverty.”

Below is the Weekly Economic Index from Ventures Africa for the week ending 8th of July, 2022. This economic index gives you a glimpse into recent activities in Africa’s economy as well as changes in prices that could affect it:

Stock markets

Here is how stocks performed in Africa’s key markets (Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa) at the end of the week:

  • Nigeria

The NGX All-Share Index dropped by 0.56 per cent week-on-week to close at 51,557.41 basis points.

Top 5 Gainers

Academy press plc – +48.82% 

UPDC Plc – +20.39%

Learn Africa plc – +11.11% 

Caverton offshore support grp plc – +9.91 

John Holt plc. – +9.76%

Top 5 Decliners

R T Briscoe plc.– -22.73%

International breweries plc.– -14.29% 

MRS Oil Nigeria Plc.– -11.08%

Conoil plc– -9.90%

Union bank Nig. Plc.– -9.76%

  • Egypt

The EGX 30 closed the week at 8,764.25 points, gaining 0.9 per cent from Monday’s 8,685.74 points.

Top Gainers

Maridive & Oil Services — +14.29%

Lecico Egypt — +7.91%

Taaleem Management Services– 7.86%

Egyptians Housing Development — +6.06%

Northern Upper Egypt Development– +5.88%

Top Decliners

Arab Aluminum — -13.46%

Arab Real Estate Investment– -7.02%

Speed Medical– -6.12%

Medinet Nasr Housing– -5.11%

Beltone Capital Holding — -4.88%

  • South Africa

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange gained 1.94 per cent week-on-week to close at 68,327.38 points.

Top Gainers

Visual International Holdings– +33.33%

Buka Investments Ltd — +28.99%

Tongaat Hulett Ltd — +17.00%

Finbond Group Ltd — +16.22%

Wesizwe Platinum Ltd — +14.16%

Top Decliners

CA Sales Holdings Ltd– -16.01%

Rebosis Property Fund Ltd — -10.53%

Labat Africa Ltd — -10.00%

Afristrat Investment Holdings — -7.14%

Naspers Ltd — -6.90%

  • Kenya

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index rallied 4.9 per cent from 129.18 to 135.39 points.

Top Gainers

Express Kenya — +9.76%

Nairobi Securities Exchange — +9.68%

Sasini — +8.05%

Home Afrika — +7.89%

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya — +7.23%  

Top Decliners

Nairobi Business Ventures — -8.82%

Ilam Fahari I-Reit — -7.41%

Longhorn Kenya — -6.99%

Car & General (k) — -6.56%

Flame Tree Group– -3.73%  

Currency Markets

Here is how Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa’s currencies performed against the US Dollar at the official markets.

  • The Nigerian naira started the week at N425.75/$1 and closed at N428.16/$1.
  • The Egyptian pound started the week at 18.87 EGP/$1 and closed at 18.91 EGP/$1.
  • The South African rand started the week at 16.36 ZAR/$1 and closed at 16.88 ZAR/$1.

Oil prices

Brent oil started the week at $113.23 and closed at $102.95 on Friday 8th of July.

Crypto Markets

The global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $958 billion as of 9 pm WAT on the 9th of July. Here’s how the top three cryptocurrencies performed:

  • Bitcoin (BTC) gained 12.3 per cent over the week to reach $21,614.14
  • Ethereum (ETH) gained 14.41 per cent over the week to $1,216.44
  • Binance Coin (BNB) gained 11.52 per cent over the week to $242.82

Tech funding

  • Senegalese-US fintech, Wave, has secured a €90 million syndicated loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and other sources to help increase its customer base and grow its operations in Senegal and Ivory Coast.
  • Kenyan B2B distribution startup, Duhqa, closed a $2 million Seed round to expand its business footprint across Kenya.
  • YAP, a UAE-based digital bank, raised $41 million from Saudi Arabia’s Aljazira Capital, Abu Dawood Group, Astra Group and Audacia Capital to expand the business into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Ghana.

From the Experts

According to Temiloluwa Bamgbose, Online Editor at Business Day, a Nigerian business news outlet, the Nigerian stock market is performing below its potential. “Nigeria’s stock market is one of the best-performing in Africa, but currently, it’s driven by local investors,” Bamgbose said. “The naira is weakening fast against the dollar, and there’s growing insecurity. We’ll need to become stable in at least one of these to attract foreign investors.”

Elsewhere on Ventures

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