Nigeria, Angola and Kenya are among African countries that could draw greater foreign investment flows in the wake of sharp declines this year for their currencies, according to Citigroup Inc, Bloomberg reported.
“Countries where we’ve seen significant FX adjustments are clear winners from an investment perspective,” George Asante, Citi’s head of markets for Sub-Saharan Africa, said in an interview with Bloomberg in Nairobi. “All these from a local market perspective offer opportunities.”
Nigeria’s naira is the worst-performing African currency this year, slumping more than 40% against the dollar as the country takes painful steps to patch up its finances by scrapping fuel subsidies and revamping a widely-criticized exchange-rate system. Angola’s kwanza is down 39% and the Kenyan shilling nearly 15%, the report said.
The new policies by Tinubu have so far had an adverse effect on certain sectors of the country, but the president has promised they will help the economy in the long-term. The move to allow the nation’s currency to weaken has contributed to losses by global companies operating in Nigeria, by increasing expenses of imported raw materials.
The Angolan Kwanza has depreciated rapidly this year mainly due to the Treasury’s unwillingness to engage in the foreign exchange market, while the Kenyan shilling has weakened due to a number of factors, including the government’s debt payments and low export earnings.
Source : ZAWYA
