CURRENCY UPDATE

At the end of the week, the composite loss value of the Ghana Cedi pushed the Ghana Cedi Index up by 0.9861bps to close at 482.5324 points at a YTD loss of 10.63%.

The GHS depreciated against three of its major trading currencies; USD, EUR and CFA to close at midrates of USDGHS 5.3776, EURGHS 5.9386 and GHSXOF 110.46.

However, the GHS appreciated against the British Pound to close at a midrate of GBPGHS 6.9078.

At the end of the trading session, the GHS had depreciated by 0.31% to the USD, 0.26% to both the EUR and CFA and appreciated by 0.21% to the GBP.

COMMODITIES MARKET UPDATE

The price of Gold declined in the week under review as the US dollar strengthened. Gold closed the week at USD 1,461 after losing USD 6.57 from the previous week’s price. This represented a YTD gain of 14.15%.

Brent price increased marginally again at the end of the week on the back of hopes of longer OPEC cuts, continuing US-China talks. Brent increased by USD 0.09 from the previous week’s price to close at USD 63.39/bbl at the end of the trading activity. This represented a YTD gain of 21.44%.

Cocoa ended the week at USD 2,617 after recording a USD 64 slump in price at an 8.68% YTD gain.

EQUITY MARKET

Trading activity for the week surged as total volume traded increased. A total of 11.38mn shares valued at GHC 1.49mn exchanged hands at the end of the week’s trading session. This represents a 506% w/w increase in volume traded and a 60% w/w decrease in value traded.

The year-to-date market index ended the week at a lower level, as the benchmark index decreased by 3.62 points to close at 2147.89 points from the previous week’s level. This represented a w/w loss of 0.17% at a 16.50% YTD loss.

Four stocks advanced in value at the end of the week; TOTAL, MTNGH, AADS and EGH. TOTAL emerged as the top gainer after appreciating by 3.83%.

On the contrary, stocks of SCB, UNIL, BOPP, GOIL, SIC, PZC and CAL lost value during the week under review with Sic being the top loser after shedding 20.0%.

ILL was the most traded stock in terms of volume traded at the end of the week with 6.79mn of its shares valued at GHS 0.35mn exchanging hands.

At the close of the week’s trading, there were 21 movements in prices and 30 stocks remained unchanged in prices.

Ghana’s debt stock reaches 208.6 billion cedis

Data released by the Bank of Ghana shows that between July and September 2019, Ghana’s total debt stock increased by 3.1 billion cedis, hitting 208.6 billion cedis. The figures contained in the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data also shows that the total debt stock of 208.6 billion cedis represents 60.3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP. Read more

80 percent of registered indigenous Petroleum companies not active

Despite the Petroleum Commission’s claim that local content participation in Ghana’s oil and gas sector is improving, it says more than 80 percent of indigenous companies registered with the Commission are currently not operational due to limited capacity. Read more

Rice importers withdraw ads from media house over local rice campaign

It has emerged that some rice importers in the country have reportedly withdrawn all advertisements from Accra-based Citi FM. The companies have also cancelled their contracts with OmniMedia, the station's parent company. It follows a campaign launched by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the media house, Samuel Attah-Mensah, popularly called ‘Sammens’, for Ghanaians to consume locally-produced rice. Read more

Banking sector clean-up gradually restoring confidence – stakeholders

The Chartered Institute of Bankers Ghana says the financial sector clean-up carried out by the Central Bank is already yielding positive results in the industry. Although there have been several arguments for and against the manner in which the exercise was done, the Institute insists the clean-up was necessary to build a robust financial system. The Regulators, the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission specifically for the fund managers, have maintained that the revocation of licenses was the best option. Read more

China's $2bn deal with Ghana sparks fears over debt, influence and environment

As part of a memorandum signed between the two nations last year, Beijing will finance $2 billion worth of rail, road and bridge networks, and in exchange, China will be granted access 5% of Ghana's bauxite reserves. The deal has drawn criticism from environmental activists, political opposition, and international government investment partners, with a new report from risk consultancy EXX Africa highlighting a lack of transparency and increasing threat to debt sustainability. Read more

S&P downgrades South Africa's outlook to negative

S&P Global on Friday downgraded bit.ly/2D8LTm3 its outlook for South Africa's credit rating to negative, citing weak pace of economic growth, mounting government debt burden and liabilities related to the country's energy utility, Eskom. The downgrade significantly increases the probability of a downgrade in the sovereign rating of Africa’s most industrialized economy. Read more

Telecoms group Orange completes sale of Orange Niger arm to Zamani Orange, France’s biggest telecoms company, said it had completed the sale of its Orange Niger division to the Zamani Com SAS company, for an undisclosed value. Orange’s operations in Niger have been hit by difficult market conditions and tax disputes with the Niger government. Orange added in a statement on Friday that Africa and the Middle East nevertheless remained a key area for the company. Read more

Source: Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC, Citi business news, Doobia, BOG, CSD.