According to a new Reuters report, Egypt’s economy will grow steadily over the next three years, with inflation gradually falling from double digits and the pound weakening in the short term. The country’s GDP is expected to grow at a median rate of 5.5 percent in the fiscal year that began this month, up from 5.2 percent predicted three months ago. Egypt, Africa’s third-largest economy, is expected to ease to 4.9 percent growth rate in fiscal year 2023/24 and then accelerate to 5.4 percent in fiscal year 2024/25.
Below is the Weekly Economic Index from Ventures Africa for the week ending the 22nd 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 key African markets (Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya) at the end of the week:
- Nigeria
The NGX All-Share Index increased by 0.45% to close the week at 51,979.92 basis points.
Top 5 gainers
Cornerstone insurance plc – +26.32%
Seplat energy plc – +10.00%
Linkage assurance- +9.43%
The initiates – +9.09%
R T Briscoe – +8.11%
Top 5 decliners
Nigerian aviation handling plc – -33.73%
Caverton offshore support group – -16.79%
Honeywell flour mill – -14.55%
FTN cocoa processors – -14.29%
Nigerian breweries.- -10.92%
- Egypt
The EGX 30 closed the week at 9,289.81 points gaining 2.84 per cent from last Friday’s 8,764.25 points.
Top 5 gainers.
Extracted oils – +14.79%
Ibnsina Pharma- +11.29%
Eygpt tourism resort – +10.77%
Arab diary production – +11.8%
Citadel capital – +9.17%
Top 5 decliners
Integrated diagnostics holding – -19.74%
El shams housing – -18.62%
Osool ESB – -6.96%
Glaxo smith kline enterprise – -4.01%
ASEK company – -2.84%
- South Africa
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange closed at 68,069.58 representing a 0.42 per cent increase week-on-week.
Top 5 gainers.
RandGold ltd – +38.16%
MTN zakhele – +13.16%
Bukar ltd – +12.50%
Newgold palladium – +10.97%
Delta property fund ltd – +10.53%
Top 5 decliners
Ellies Holdings ltd – -28.00%
Southern palladium – -15.865%
Cloud atlas AMI – -8.86%
Vivo Energy plc – -8.82%
enX group – -7.69%
- Kenya
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index rallied 0.88 per cent from 135.38 to 136.57 points.
Top 5 gainers
FTG holdings – +10.0%
East African Portland cement -+6.9%
HF group – +5.9%
Britham holdings – +3.81%
Ilam Fahari I-reit – +3.12%
Top 5 decliners
Uchmi supermarkets – -10.0%
Home Afrika – -7.69%
Centum investment – -3.62%
Nation media group – -2.43%
Nairobi securities exchange – -2.03%
Currency markets
Here is how Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa’s currencies performed against the US Dollar at the official markets.
- The Nigerian naira started the week at 421.77 NGN/$1 and closed at 414.63 NGN/$1.
- The Egyptian pound started the week at 18.8855 EGP/$1 and closed at 18.9151 EGP/$1.
- The South African rand started the week at 17.0783 ZAR/$1 and closed at 16.8416 ZAR/$1.
- The Kenyan shilling started the week at 118.2105 KES/$1 and closed at 118.7235 KES/$1.
Oil prices
Brent oil started the week at $106.27 and closed at $103.2 on Friday 22nd of July.
Crypto markets
The global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $1.04T as of 2 pm WAT on the 24th of July. Here is how the top three cryptocurrencies performed:
- Bitcoin (BTC) gained 5.56 percent over the week to reach $22,655.46
- Ethereum (ETH) gained 17.60 percent over the week to reach $1,602.05
- Binance Coin (BNB) gained 4.31 percent over the week to $262.69
Tech funding
- Cathay Innovation, a European-born global-focused venture capital firm, and AfricInvest, a multi-asset investment platform, have completed a $112 million final close on the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF), a Pan-African fund launched through a partnership.
- Bizao, a fintech startup for payment solutions for businesses and merchants, has closed a Series A round of financing at €8 million. The funding was led by AfricInvest, with the participation of French VC firm Adelie and Seedstars Africa Ventures.
- Cassava technologies have secured a $50 million investment from C5 capital a specialist venture capital firm to accelerate digital connectivity and inclusion on the continent.
From the experts
Adeola Ogunbodede, an economist and finance analyst at Wavetek Ltd, says Nigeria’s level of production and output would have to improve to grow its economy. “The Nigerian market is not doing poorly but the growth has not been at a marginal. And we can see that it is a result of the fiscal and monetary policies in the Nigerian economy. This reflects on the reclining level of production and output,” he says. “This needs to be addressed for the economy to attain full potential.”
