Fitch Ratings has affirmed Nigeria’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (LTFC IDR) at ‘B’ with a Stable Outlook. A full list of rating actions is detailed below. Key Rating DriversHigher Oil Prices Support Rating: Higher global oil prices will drive an improvement in external liquidity and support near-term economic growth. These improvements are balanced against high hydrocarbon dependence, which leaves Nigeria vulnerable to negative oil price shocks, and structurally low domestic revenue mobilisation. The continuation of fuel subsidies will limit upside from higher oil prices on Nigeria’s public finances. Forecasts are based on Fitch’s December 2021 oil price assumptions (USD70 per barrel…
Author: Johnson Akinyi
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By Arab Finance Published: March 07, 2022 10:02 PM National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire (BDC) (BQDC) are set to launch Egypt’s first fintech fund with a capital of over EGP 1.3 billion, Happi Journal reported, citing Rasha Negm, Assistant Sub-Governor Information Technology at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Egypt has grown rapidly in the field of fintech over the past few years, as investments in the field soared over 300%, Negm added. The top official highlighted that the CBE realized the importance of fintech which caused the launch of its digitalization strategy in March 2019. The CBE…
Luno, the leading global cryptocurrency company, has today revealed in a new online global survey that only 3% of cryptocurrency investors in the African countries surveyed (Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa) do not have a plan when making investment decisions, delivering a groundbreaking insight into how consumers manage the investment risks attached to the continent’s growing wave of crypto adoption. The findings emerged when respondents were asked which statement best describes their investment approach with 35% saying they limit speculative investments to a small percentage of their funds, 32% stating they react to market changes and invest where they feel…
Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped marginally to 15.6% in January 2022, representing a reversal from the uptick recorded in the previous month, when it increased to 15.63% in December 2021. This is according to the consumer price index report, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased to 1.47% in January 2022, this is 0.34% points lower than 1.82% recorded in December 2021. The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending January 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 16.87%, showing 0.08% point decline from…
The pandemic-fuelled growth of the digital economy and unabated demand for online retail products across Africa have led to extensive disruption in the Consumer Goods and Retail Sector (CG&R) sector. Due to a growth in demand for online retail, CG&R companies in Africa have been rapidly adapting their digital operating models, and multinational e-commerce platforms operating in the region have attracted a record number of new customers. This digital transition, and resultant growth in the e-commerce sector, has tax implications for digital CG&R businesses operating in Africa. The OECD’s Pillar One and Two Multilateral international tax changes currently being implemented…
Safaricom (NSE:SCOM) registered further growth in M-Pesa transaction values in the quarter ended December, lifting revenue of the telco which now makes most of its sales from the financial service. The performance of M-Pesa in the review period was disclosed by Safaricom’s parent company Vodacom Group. “Our M-Pesa platform, including Safaricom, continues to scale at an impressive rate with transaction values up 16.1 percent to exceed R430 billion (Sh3.2 trillion) per month,” Vodacom said in its third quarter results announcement. Safaricom, which only publishes results for half year (to September) and full-year (to March), accounts for more than half of the continental M-Pesa…
Alsoug, the largest digital classifieds and marketplace in Sudan, has announced the close of a $5 million fundraise to establish a national payments network enabling quick, easy and safe transactions for all Sudanese. Alsoug, which was founded in 2016 and has nearly two million downloads, lets Sudanese consumers and businesses buy and sell any goods and services they need. Listings include real estate, cars, electronics, and furniture, as well as services and job postings. Alsoug enables buyers and sellers of goods and services to directly interact with each other. The investment will expand alsoug’s presence in fintech, building on the…
By Donald Matthys | Namibia Economist Published: February 16, 2022 2:05 PM The Bank of Namibia on Wednesday, 16 February raised the repo rate to 4% from 3.75%, saying this is a step towards normalising the current negative real interest rate environment and establishing a positive real interest rate that is conducive to long-term economic growth. Namibia’s repo rate is now on par with South Africa after the South African Reserve Bank raised its repo rate from 3.75% to 4% in January this year. The Bank of Namibia believes the recent increase in the repo rate 25 basis points to 4% is…
Recently on Twitter, someone shared their experience of how they travelled to Finland for studies with only €700. Resharing – WITH 700 EUROS, I MADE MY WAY TO FINLAND (Read and it’s a must share) I secured admission into Savonia Polytechnic, Kuopio Finland for a second Bachelor of Science, and this time in Information Technology with a major in Embedded Systems. pic.twitter.com/9yp3KXDF8Z— Dr. Adeola (Addy) Olubamiji (@DrOlubamiji) January 24, 2022 They arrived a new country and continent with nothing more than sheer faith and belief that all will be sorted. Fortunately, from the moment they arrived Finland, everything seemed to…
By Moody’s Published: February 04, 2022 8:55 PM Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today downgraded the Government of Ghana’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3 and changed the outlook to stable from negative. Moody’s has also downgraded the senior unsecured MTN programme ratings to (P)Caa1 from (P)B3 and the backed senior unsecured debt rating to B3 from B1. The downgrade to Caa1 reflects the increasingly difficult task the government faces addressing its intertwined liquidity and debt challenges. Weak revenue generation constrains government’s budget flexibility and tight funding conditions on international markets have forced the government to…