African currencies week ahead: Kenya's shilling seen weakening, naira steady

The Kenyan shilling is expected to weaken against the dollar in the next week ending Thursday while the naira is expected to hold steady, traders said.
KENYA: The Kenyan shilling could depreciate due to political uncertainty reducing offshore investor inflows and precautionary buying of dollars by importers a week before elections, traders said. Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 103.50/70 per dollar compared with 103.20/40 at last Thursday's close. "Unless there is some positive news coming from the political arena, the shilling should remain on the back foot breaching psychological levels, although central bank could stall the fall," said a trader from one commercial bank.
NIGERIA: The naira is expected to remain stable across its multiple exchange rates as the central bank continues to intervene on the official market and investors buy Nigerian assets, traders said. The local currency has been quoted at 305 per dollar on the official market for more than three months and is expected to trade at this level next week.
The central bank offered treasury bills on Wednesday and Thursday to draw foreign inflows. The debt office plans to issue bonds next week which could attract inflows. The naira has traded at around 360 for investors and at 363 on the parallel market.
GHANA: Ghana's cedi is expected to remain stable on improved dollar inflows and weak corporate forex demand, an analyst said. The local currency has weakened by 3.4 percent since January compared to 3.7 percent in the same period last year. It was trading at 4.3749 to the greenback at 1228 GMT on Thursday, compared to 4.3811 a week ago. "We expect the dollar-cedi to trade relatively stable in the 3.9000-4.4100 range in the coming week, bolstered by a positive current account position," Barclays Bank Ghana dealer Jacob Brobbey said.
TANZANIA: The Tanzanian shilling is forecast to continue trading in a stable range, helped by subdued demand for dollars and inflows from the agriculture sector. Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,240/2,250 to the dollar on Thursday, barely changed from 2,245/2,250 a week ago. "There is no pressure on the local currency. The shilling is expected to hold steady at current levels for quite some time," said a trader at Commercial Bank of Africa Tanzania.
UGANDA: The Ugandan shilling is expected to weaken in the coming days from an expected surge in demand for hard currency from consumer goods importers looking to ship in merchandise for year-end holiday shoppers. Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,650/3,660, weaker than last Thursday's close of 3,625/3,635. David Bagambe, trader at Diamond Trust Bank, said the local currency was likely to test the next psychological level of 3,700 on the back of "typical fourth-quarter demand from manufacturers". Government spending on infrastructure, he said, would also add to the weakening pressure as contractors buy dollars to import materials.
ZAMBIA: The kwacha is likely to remain under pressure against the dollar next week as hard currency demand continues to exceed supply. At 1500 GMT on Thursday, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa's No.2 copper producer at 9.7200 per dollar from 9.6000 a week ago. "In the near term the kwacha remains vulnerable against the greenback and should trade between K9.650 and K9.800," Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) said in a note.