African currencies week ahead: Kenya, Uganda shillings seen easing, Zambia kwacha to firm

Kenya's and Uganda's shillings are seen easing in the next week to Thursday due to importer dollar demand from energy companies, while the Zambian kwacha is seen firming, traders said.
KENYA: Kenya's shilling is seen easing, undermined by importer dollar demand from the energy sector, traders said. At 1010 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 101.30/50 to the dollar, compared with last Thursday's close of 101.45/55.
"Because this is going to be the end-of-month week, I still believe there will be a good amount of (dollar) demand in the market. I have a lot of oil clients, a lot of general retail importers," a trader at one commercial bank said. Traders said they were also on the lookout for the central bank selling dollars. It did so on Thursday after the shilling weakened in reaction to an amended law that caps commercial lending rates.
UGANDA: The Ugandan shilling is seen shedding value as corporates in the energy sector and other import businesses display their typical end of month demand for hard currency.
At 0941 GMT commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,370/3,380, weaker than last Thursday's close of 3,365/3,375. "Typically we see a jump in (dollar) demand from fuel importers and some manufacturers ... this will play out in the coming days," said a trader at a leading commercial bank.
ZAMBIA: The kwacha is next week likely to remain firm supported by a government bond auction settlement on Monday and an anticipated inflow of hard currency to pay salaries and other month end obligations. At 1020 GMT on Thursday, the currency of Africa's second-biggest copper producer was quoted at 10.0000 per dollar from 9.9121 a week ago.
"Government bond settlement takes place on Monday and we could see dollar conversions from last minute foreign investors. This together with corporate conversions as we draw closer to month end, could see the local unit hold ground," the Zambian branch of South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) said.
TANZANIA: The Tanzanian shilling is expected to trade in a tight band as dollar demand from importers is offset by central bank support. Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,182/2,192 to the dollar on Thursday, barely moved from 2,181/2,191 a week ago.
"The shilling has been stable over the past two weeks. We expect stability in the market to continue, with demand and supply being fairly matched," said Moses Kawiche, a trader at CRDB Bank.
GHANA: Ghana's cedi is seen firm next week on improving forex inflows as offshore investors sell dollars to mobilise funds to buy domestic bonds, an analysts said. The local unit was quoted at 3.9535 to the greenback at 1030 GMT on Thursday, down 3 percent since January, according to Reuters data.
"The government has reopened a 5-year (domestic) bond that is maturing on July 2021 and it is likely to lead to some forex inflows... I expect the cedi to regroup to the 3.9400-3.9550 range," said Barclays Bank Ghana currency dealer Jacob Brobbey.
NIGERIA: The naira is seen trading weaker in the coming days due to the dollar shortage and the impact of the central bank suspension of nine commercial lenders from forex transactions.
Traders said even though the central bank continued to sell dollars daily on the interbank market, its efforts were considered weak and inadequate. The local currency was trading around 310 to the dollar on the interbank market, the same level as last week. The naira was quoted at 402 to the dollar on the parallel market compared with 397 a dollar last week. The central bank suspended nine banks from forex transactions on Tuesday for failing to remit money owed to the government, but re-admitted one of them on Thursday after it remitted the said fund.