According to a currency performance ranking by Bloomberg, Ghana’s cedi dropped 1.1 per cent to trade at 9 Gh cedi/$1. The fall of the currency is due to demand for forex as it overtook supplies during a period when high debts and low investor confidence made it impossible for Ghana to access the international capital market for borrowing. In a rejoinder, The Bank of Ghana has increased its lending rate to 22 per cent to curb inflationary pressures and halt the depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar. Ghana’s currency has plunged 35 per cent this year, making it the worst-performing currency after Sri Lanka’s rupee.
Below is the Weekly Economic Index from Ventures Africa for the week ending the 19th of August, 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 ending Friday, August 19, 2022:
- Nigeria
The NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.59% to close the week at 49370.62 basis points.
Top 5 gainers
Prestige Assurance plc – +18.18 %
Neimeth international pharmaceuticals plc – + 9.29%
Sovereign trust insurance plc – +8.00%
Red star express plc – +5.88%
Unity bank plc – +4.65%
Top 5 decliners
Japaul gold & ventures plc – -23.68%
Courteville business solutions plc- -21.43%
University Press plc. -18.87%
P Z Cussons Nigeria plc- -7.07%
Honeywell flour mill – -14.49%
- Egypt
The EGX 30 closed the week at 10,094.16 points gaining 1.05 per cent from last Friday’s 9,988.84 points.
Top 5 gainers
Egyptians for investment & urban development – +15.97%
International co for investment and development – +15.15%
El obour real estate investment – +11.87%
Northern upper Egypt development & agricultural development – +10.30%
Iron and steel for mines and quarries – +6.67%
Top 5 decliners
Orascom construction industries – -6.23%
Arab developers’ holdings – -5.77%
Arabia investments – -5.13%
Raya holdings – -4.78%
Wadi Kom Ombo – -3.78%
- South Africa
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange closed at 69,719.43 representing a -1.44per cent decrease week-on-week.
Top 5 gainers
Kibo Energy plc – +66.67%
Jasco electronics – +19.05%
Trematon Capital- +13.33%
Purple group ltd – +9.95%
Stefanutti stocks holdings – +8.54%
Top 5 decliners
African dawn capital – -28.00%
RH bophelo ltd – -28.00%
Visual international holdings – -25.00%
Oando plc – -13.33%
Cognition holdings – -12.79%
- Kenya
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index decreased 0.48 per cent from 147.03 to 146.32 points.
Top 5 gainers
Longhorn – +8.74%
Sameer Africa – +8.60%
Liberty Kenya Holdings – +6.19%
Home Afrika – +5.88%
Scangroup – +3.64%
Top 5 decliners
Standard group – -8.16%
Kakuzi – -7.94%
Jubilee holdings – -4.81%
Britam holdings – -4.38%
Trans-century – -4.03%
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 423.36 NGN/$1 and closed at 420.32 NGN/$1.
- The Egyptian pound started the week at 19.148 EGP/$1 and closed at 19.139 EGP/$1.
- The South African rand started the week at 16.44 ZAR/$1 and closed at 17.01 ZAR/$1.
- The Kenyan shilling started the week at 119.465 KES/$1 and closed at 119.80 KES/$1.
Oil prices
Brent oil started the week at $95.10 and closed at $96.72 Friday the 19th of August.
Crypto markets
The global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $1.02T as of 3 pm WAT on the 21st of August. Here is how the top three cryptocurrencies performed:
- Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 12.66 per cent over the week to reach $21,415.89.
- Ethereum (ETH) dropped 18.41 per cent over the week to reach $1,617.26.
- Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 7.60 per cent over the week to $298.11.
Tech funding
- Kenya-based agritech, iProcure, raised $10.2 million in series B funding. The round which brings its total funding raised to 17.2 million was led by Investiseurs & Paternaires, with participation from Novastar Ventures, Ceniarth, and British internal investment.
- Pastel, a Nigerian bookkeeping and digital platform for merchants raised a seed round of 5.5 million led by pan-African venture capital firm, Tlcom Capital.
- Float, a Ghanaian cash flow and spend management platform completed a full acquisition of Accounteer, a Nigerian subscription-based cloud-based accounting service.
From the experts
Adeola Ogunbodede, an economist at Wavetek Ltd, says many African economies are experiencing the repercussion of the Ukraine war and global imbalances. According to him, “the war has affected how global investments come into the continent. These investors have turned their attention to climates with higher value. To match this, some economies have had to raise their interest rates.”
