Fresh data emerged this week on the worrisome state of Nigeria’s merchandise trade position with the rest of the world. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria recorded a Goods trade deficit of ₦3.9tn in Q1:2021 (2.6% of GDP), the highest in more than twelve successive quarters. This was jointly driven by a […]

Global economy According to the latest data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), headline inflation rose by 40bps to 1.3% y/y in May (April: 0.9% y/y) – the highest since September 2020 (1.7% y/y). We highlight that the increase in the headline index was due to a faster price increase in the […]

This week, the bullish trend in the domestic equities market was extended as the NSE All-Share Index rose 1.1% w/w to settle at 39,156.28 points while YTD loss moderated to -2.8%. The positive performance was driven by bargain hunting in notable bellwether stocks – DANGCEM, WAPCO, STANBIC and SEPLAT. As a result, market capitalisation rose […]

Price appreciation in ZENITH (+3.6%), GUARANTY (+2.6%) and WAPCO (+2.2%) buoyed market performance as the All-Share index rose 29bps to close at 39,312.74 points. Consequently, YTD loss improved to -2.4% while market capitalisation rose ₦59.4bn to ₦20.5tn. Trading activity improved as volume and value traded rose 35.7% and 11.1% to 324.2m units and ₦3.3bn respectively. […]

Global economy In line with our expectation of improved factory activity as workers return from the Lunar New Year holiday, China’s manufacturing PMI rose to the highest in four months. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the manufacturing PMI notched up by 1.3 points to 51.9 points in March (February: 50.6 points). For us, […]

Global foreign investment plummeted to historic lows in 2020 as Covid-19 forced investors to push the brakes on expansion plans. Foreign investment projects worth an estimated $486.9bn were announced by global companies in 2020, which is $310.8bn (40%) less than in 2019, according to full-year data from investment monitor fDi Markets. This means that the […]

In our 2020 Outlook report, titled Nigeria in the New Decade: Nothing Ventured; Nothing Gained, we had reviewed the performance of the Nigerian economy over the last decade and highlighted critical imperatives necessary to restore the nation on the path of prosperity in the new decade. We noted that while economic performance in the last […]

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will hold its second set of meetings of the year on the 22nd and 23rd of March 2021. We expect the Committee to review the domestic and external macroeconomic conditions and financial markets developments since its last meeting in January and provide forward guidance on how it intends to balance […]

Q4:2020 Labour Market Statistics: Youth Unemployment at an All-time High The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the labour statistics for Q4:2020 and we summarise the highlights. Interestingly, the NBS was able to conduct the survey through face-to-face interviews following the lifting of restrictions imposed by the pandemic compared with the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview […]

Price appreciation in BUACEMENT (+5.1%), STANBIC (+10.0%) and INTBREW (+5.9%) buoyed performance in the market today. Consequently, the benchmark index rose 89bps to 38,722.87 points, YTD loss improved to -3.8% and market capitalisation increased ₦178.1bn to ₦20.3tn. Trading activity declined as volume and value fell 4.6% and 24.0% respectively to 277.2m units and ₦3.1bn. The […]