Foreign exchange market

The dollar extended a relentless rise on Friday, buoyed by the prospect of a more aggressive pace of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The greenback strengthened while being close to its two-week high against the euro. For its part, the pound sterling fell to its lowest level since mid-March against the dollar. The pound was down 0.1% at 83.28 pence against the single currency after hitting its highest level since March 23 at 83.07 pence earlier in the session.

The value of the kwanza, the Angolan currency, is up 22.2% this year. The kwanza is at the top of African monetary performance against the dollar. Since the beginning of 2022, the Angolan currency has appreciated, according to a recent Bloomberg ranking which takes into account around twenty African currencies. Following the Angolan currency, the South African rand rose 7.82% against the dollar; the Guinean franc appreciated by 4.53%. The Ghanaian currency (cedi) is the one that fell the most in Africa with -17.8%.

Cryptocurrencies

With the "Zuck Buck", Facebook has a new plan to create its own currency. A few weeks after abandoning its Diem cryptocurrency, Meta would now bet on a virtual currency only available in applications. However, it is unlikely this time to be a blockchain-based cryptocurrency, and the idea would rather be to launch "tokens" or tokens integrated into the application, like the very popular game for children Roblox, which offers "Robux", or Fornite and its "V-Bucks".

Stock markets

At the end of the trading session of this Thursday, April 7, 2022, the market capitalization of the stock market of the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) recorded a slight decline of 4.487 billion FCFA. This capitalization increased to 6568.486 billion FCFA. That of the bond market, on the other hand, increased by 10.5 billion, to 7621.802 billion FCFA. The total value of the transactions stood at 436.322 million FCFA against 279.645 million FCFA the day before. The BRVM Composite index fell by 0.07% to 218.21 points against 218.36 points the day before. For its part, the BRVM 10 index rose by 0.04% to 167.65 points against 167.59 points previously.

At the end of a breathtaking year 2021, record by the volume of transactions, Dr Edoh Kossi Amenounvé, Managing Director of & DC/BR, estimates that the WAEMU financial center is still cheap, with a rate of return of 8.75% at the end of December 2020. He announced some prospects including: the organization of face-to-face or digital roadshows, BRVM Days and BRVM Investors Tours, the continued integration of ECOWAS capital markets with the project WACMIC and the Interconnection of African Stock Exchanges (AELP) and the launch of the pilot phase in the coming months of the technological platform.

Money Market

Guinea-Bissau raised on April 5, 2022 on the WAEMU financial market the sum of 11.936 billion FCFA. The issuer had auctioned a total amount of 12.500 billion FCFA. According to UMOA-Titres, investors have offered it global bids of 26.241 billion FCFA. This gives a rate of coverage of the amount auctioned of 209.93%. The amount of accepted bids stood at 11.936 billion FCFA and that rejected at 14.304 billion FCFA. This gives an absorption rate of 45.49%.

Following an issue of support and resilience bonds with a duration of 364 days, Niger raised on April 7, 2022 on the WAEMU financial market an amount of 33 billion FCFA. UMOA-Titres identified 50.900 billion FCFA of global submissions made by investors. The absorption rate is 64.83%.

The treasury bonds auctioned last Tuesday bring the state 33 billion FC. The results of this six-month batch recorded two bidders served at the rate of coverage of the amount auctioned of 170% at the accepted limit rate of 5% and at the weighted average rate of 4.697% and the percentage awarded at the limit accepted 88.46%.

Raw materials

Caught between the release of strategic reserves from consumer countries, the drop in Russian supply and the erosion of demand from China, oil prices recovered on Friday. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in June took 1.00% to 101.59 dollars. A barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May gained 1.17% to 97.17 dollars. Brent remains up more than 30% since the start of the year, and WTI almost 29%.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the executive decided on Wednesday March 30 in the Council of Ministers to abolish customs duties applied to wheat purchases on the international market. This exemption should help reduce the impact of rising wheat prices on the price of bread flour in the Eburnean nation.

According to the National Statistics and Demography Agency (Ansd), the price of crude oil fell by 8.1% monthly. The price of wheat followed the same trend, standing at 824.6 US cents / 60lb wood in November, down 0.6% month-on-month. Regarding sugar, the price is down 2.5% in monthly variation. For cotton, the price fell from 126.5 US cents/lb in November to 119.9 US cents/lb in December, a monthly decline of 5.2%. Rice recorded a rise of 1.5% in monthly variation. For corn, the price rose from 570.9 US cents / Bushel in November to 592.1 US cents / Bushel the following month, a monthly increase of 3.7%.

The main raw materials exported by the countries of the Union have seen their prices increase, in particular for coffee (+60.9%), cotton (+38.1%), rubber (+28.5%), cocoa (+6.6%) and gold (+8.0%). On the other hand, a drop was recorded on the cashew nut markets (-5.5%).

Companies

With its chocolate, ToutFruit chocolate, Cacao Barry won the prize for best artisan product. This new type of chocolate was inspired and developed thanks to the collaboration of 30 great chefs and artisans from all over the world. The Global Food Innovation Award is a great representation of what the future holds for food innovation, breakthrough technologies and health-conscious consumers.

Banks and Insurance

In order to support Togo's inclusive growth, the World Bank is providing new financial assistance of $100 million. The financial envelope will be granted via the International Development Association (IDA) within the framework of additional financing, explains the Togolese presidency. This grant from the Bretton Woods institution is to be used to support fiscal reforms, strengthen fiscal management and financial sustainability, and improve service delivery in the energy and water sectors.

The shareholders of Bank Of Africa (BOA) Côte d'Ivoire will receive on April 28, 2022, for the 2021 financial year, an overall net annual dividend of 7.480 billion FCFA. The net dividend per share amounts to 374 FCFA. This is a very interesting return on investment for shareholders who still have the possibility of strengthening their BOA Côte d'Ivoire equity portfolio before April 26, 2022, the date on which the share will go ex-dividend.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is launching a US$4 billion trade finance program for Africa to deal with the effects of the Ukraine Crisis (UKAFPA). The objectives of the program are as follows: Financing the adjustment of import reorganization costs; Financing the buyback of oil and metals; Stabilization of commodity export earnings; Tourism revenue shortfall funding for central banks of tourism-dependent economies; Export Earnings Acceleration Line of Credit.

The results of the survey on banking conditions carried out by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) indicate that the lending interest rates applied by banks in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) to their customers experienced relative stability during the month of February 2022 compared to the previous month. According to the survey, the borrowing rate in WAEMU stood at 6.26% excluding charges and taxes, during the period under review against 6.25% in January 2022.

According to the financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2021, the Bceao recorded a 20% drop in its net income in 2021. This result is down by CFAF 13.923 billion, representing a decrease of 20% compared to that of 2020 which was estimated at 69.238 billion F Cfa. Indeed, the balance sheet shows 243.591 billion F Cfa of net income against 188.276 billion F Cfa of general operating expenses.

Société Générale Algérie inaugurated its 2nd 100% solar and digital branch in Hassi Messaoud. This initiative falls within the framework of its development plan, and in its capacity as a committed and responsible player in the face of climate issues.

The Nigerian banking group, Access Bank announced that it had received from the national monetary authority, "the approval allowing Access Bank Plc to operate as a universal bank on Cameroonian territory". It is the realization of a project initiated two years ago when this banking institution expressed its intention to settle in Cameroon.

With a total balance sheet of more than 1800 billion CFA francs (+ 19.48%), the Mali Development Bank Group (BDM-SA) consolidates its position on the regional banking market. Its net banking income of nearly CFAF 74 billion (+ 17.19%).

As part of the construction of energy infrastructure, the Import-Export Bank of India (Eximbank-India) granted financing to Cameroon. These funds will be used to improve the energy supply, in particular, the construction of the 400 kV line to connect the Nachtigal dam to the town of Bafoussam. A decree by the Head of State, Paul Biya, signed on April 4, 2022, empowers the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development to sign with Eximbank, a loan agreement of 98 billion FCFA ($164 million).

The financial results of Ecobank Côte d'Ivoire presented at its ordinary general meeting held on April 5, 2022 in Abidjan reveal that the total balance sheet amounted to 1,677.7 billion CFA francs and represents a growth of 5% compared to the total balance sheet for the 2020 financial year which amounted to 1,602.3 billion CFA francs. Net banking income stands at 90.5 billion CFA francs compared to 2020, an increase which is also 5%.

Afriland First Bank has announced the launch of its Sara Money solution for money transfer by telephone. So, transfers here are completely free, regardless of the amount. Only the 0.2% tax required by the government is levied.

A bank with Congolese capital is in the making to facilitate business creation in the country. The financial institution, confirmed the Federation of Companies of Congo (FEC), will be able to facilitate access to bank loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Indeed, as explained by the employers' organization of the DRC, the objective of the new Congolese bank will be to promote local entrepreneurship, even if its main target will initially remain SMEs.

In Senegal, insurance companies have been rehabilitated with billions of FCFA. Based on a text of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) dating from 2010 but never applied, the Senegalese Customs has just notified billions of CFA francs of recovery to some local insurance companies. There are a total of 29 companies.

Financial crimes

The Director General of National Financial Institutions, Jean-Pierre Nonault has qualified the activity of the Omega-pro group as a scam. Indeed, the platform has been operating in the Republic of Congo since 2018 by organizing financial investments on the internet. Two Omega-Pro managers are wanted by the authorities; a mixed team of National Financial Institutions General Management and the police has been set up to carry out arrests in order to obtain information on the detailed method of this scam.

Regional growth

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU) are working to curb the phenomenon of maritime insecurity in the West African sub-region. The EU-funded seminar should result in the supply to ECOWAS coastal countries of equipment worth 5.4 million euros. The initiative is part of the West Africa Integrated Maritime Security Support Project (SWAIMS).

The Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (CREPMF) chaired the validation work on draft texts relating to the regulatory framework on the private equity industry within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). ). The discussions enabled the various players to go through the draft texts and decide on the strategy for promoting the activity within the Union.