Currency

Over the past week, currencies have experienced a long decline in volatility. The Turkish lira, South African rand and Brazilian real suffered with declines of 3% to 5% in one week. The Euro is breaking through the support at 1.193/E which dates back to mid-August and then the beginning of September. The Dollar, which reached its highest level in three months, obviously continues to benefit from the sharp increase in its remuneration (+6Pts to 1.612%), in absolute and relative terms against the Euro, as well as against to the Yen or the Swiss Franc.

Bank

The Swiss bank, UBS was before the Paris Court of Appeal on Monday March 8, 2021 for tax evasion. She was sentenced at first instance to pay 4.5 billion euros for illegal bank canvassing and aggravated laundering of tax evasion in 2019. Ralph Hamers, her boss was also implicated by an old case of laundering of tax evasion which dates back to before 2016.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released a $320,000 grant to strengthen the presence of women in the ECOWAS digital financial market. The grant will increase women's participation in digital financial market operations to 35%, a sector that “shows greater gender disparity than other parts of the continent.”
The pan-African institution has also released the sum of 2 million USD to fight cybercrime and strengthen the resilience of digital payment systems in Africa. The project will potentially benefit 250 million vulnerable customers and 2,000-3,000 financial institutions across Africa.
National AI-based customer management systems in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia have received a $1.024 million grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB). The project will establish a complaints handling system for financial regulators, using multilingual chatbots and artificial intelligence to interface with major financial service providers in the three countries.
To strengthen securities market regulation, the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Friday signed a $400,000 grant agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria. The Pan-African bank thus intends to strengthen the regulation of the securities market of the largest economy in West Africa and to expand market instruments.
It was voted "World's Best Multilateral Financial Institution for 2021" by the American magazine Global Finance, which specializes in financial markets and investment banking.
Ecobank Côte d'Ivoire, a subsidiary of the Ecobank Group, innovates with initiatives aimed at women. Among others, the “Ellever by Ecobank” program aimed at women-led or women-oriented businesses across its 33 countries.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a loan to Vital Finance Benin with the aim of supporting small businesses most exposed to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding program primarily targets support for women in the country.
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and its partners have launched the SME Resources Bank, a new online platform to facilitate partnerships and investments in African agriculture. SME Resources Bank will contain fundraising materials such as comprehensive investment memos, robust financial models and market analysis information that will educate SMEs on the investment process and requirements and how to get started. prepare to participate in the Agribusiness Deal Room.
The Vista Bank banking group, founded and chaired by Burkinabe businessman Simon Tiemtoré, has raised 10 million euros to contribute to industrialization through support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small and medium-sized enterprises. industries (PMI). These funds obtained from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) will be used to offer medium-term financing to Guinean companies.
The pan-African financial institution United Bank for Africa (UBA) has launched the new UBA Mobile Banking App which offers several advantages. It is packed with features designed to give its users greater control and accessibility to transact with ease.

Raw materials

Crude prices climbed the day after the OPEC+ meeting, settling above $68. There is a wave of new projections, now optimistic, from the big banks on the evolution of crude oil prices over the next three quarters of the year. Oil prices end at their highest in almost 2 years.
A barrel of Brent North Sea oil for May delivery ended at $69.63, up 2.54% or $1.73 in London from the previous day's close. In New York, the US barrel of WTI for April rose 2.45%, or $1.58, to $66.02.
Prices for agricultural products have also soared by almost 50% since mid-2020. According to Carlos Mera, Head of Agri Commodities Markets at Rabobank, the price spike could continue into 2021.

Governance

Niger's President Issoufou Mahamadou received the Mo Ibrahim Prize, a symbol of the international community's eternal recognition of his dedication to the development of his country. He distinguished himself by his efforts to improve the economic development of his country, while working for regional stability.
The Director of the African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Abebe Aemro Selassie congratulates the Angolan government for the economic reforms undertaken in the face of Covid-19. According to the latest forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, Angola should recover from the economic recession by 4% in 2020, growing by 3.2% already this year 2021, also improving the budget deficit by 2.8% for a slight imbalance 0.1% this year.
Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio has found himself in the middle of a financial scandal. He is accused of having endorsed illegal expenses amounting to more than three million euros. The facts implicate his wife Fatima Bio who allegedly illegally spent the equivalent of 2.5 million euros and David John Francis, one of the most powerful figures in the country who allegedly incurred a million dollars in expenses badly or not justified.
The rating agency Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) raised on March 9, 2021, the ratings of the long-term issuer and the senior unsecured debt of the government of Benin from B2 to B1. Benin's outlook has changed from stable to positive thanks to the “solid” management of public finances.

Equity markets

Equity markets are moving in scattered order. The CAC 40 futures contract gained 4 points while the DAX 30 contract lost 3 points. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Hang Seng gained 0.8% at the end of the session, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 1.1%. The Nikkei index closed up 1%.

Bond and Money Markets

The Togolese public treasury received 40 billion FCFA on March 5, 2021 for a recovery bond issue. The amount was raised through the issuance of two Treasury Bonds (OAT) with maturities of 3 and 5 years. 5-year OATs were more popular with 100 bids compared to 27 for 3-year OATs.

Financial crime

The US State Department's annual report on drug trafficking ranked Morocco as one of the top cannabis-producing countries in the world. The first volume of the annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) describes Moroccan hashish being smuggled south into Mauritania and then transferred through Mali and Niger to Libya for transshipment and distribution. It is also increasingly smuggled into South America and the Caribbean, where traffickers exchange hashish for cocaine and transport the latter to Europe for distribution.