NAIROBI: Kenya’s currency could gain against the dollar in the next week to Thursday, while Nigeria’s is expected to be broadly steady, and Uganda’s and Zambia’s could fall, traders said.
Kenya
Kenya’s shilling could strengthen on the back of dollar inflows from non-governmental organisations and remittances.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 129.00/40 per dollar, compared with last Thursday’s closing rate of 129.00/129.50.
“I still feel the shilling should strengthen further. The dollar internationally is also on the back foot for now. On inflows, we expect good diaspora (remittance) and NGO flows,” one trader said.
Nigeria
Nigeria’s naira is seen trading around current levels next week, buoyed by the central bank’s steady dollar injections to support the currency.
The naira was quoted around 1,502 to the dollar in intraday trading on Thursday, traders said, compared with a closing quote of 1,496 naira a week earlier.
The unit was sold at around 1,520 naira to the dollar in street trading on Thursday.
“The central bank is on a mission to keep the naira stable around 1,500 to the dollar and they have backed it up with dollar sales,” a trader said. “I expect the naira will trade around that mark in the coming week.”
Kenyan shilling little changed versus dollar, LSEG data shows
Uganda
Uganda’s shilling is seen trading with a weakening tone because of demand for hard currency from telecoms firms looking to pay out last year’s dividends.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,668/3,678 to the U.S. currency, compared to last Thursday’s close of 3,675/3,685.
“We’re seeing players in the telecom sector start to publish their results, … we anticipate an uptick in demand for dollars from them in preparation for dividend payments,” a trader said.
On Thursday Uganda’s largest telecom firm, a unit of South Africa’s MTN Group , published its financial results for last year showing it earned a profit of 641.5 billion Ugandan shillings ($174.89 million), up 30% from 2023.
Zambia
Zambia’s kwacha is expected to continue trading on the back foot.
On Thursday the kwacha was quoted at 28.70 per dollar, from 28.36 per dollar a week ago.
“With (foreign-currency) supply remaining limited and demand persisting, the Zambian kwacha is set to remain under pressure,” Access Bank said in a note.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.