Central banks in Kenya and Nigeria are likely to keep supporting the shilling and the naira next week, while Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia's units are seen steady, dealers and analysts said.
"I think it will be range-bound. Any dollar demand that is coming into the market will meet CBK (central bank) protection," African Banking Corporation trader, Julius Kiriinya, said. Traders see the shilling between 89.70 and 90.50 next week.
Market participants expected the shilling to trade in the 1,720-1,730 range over the coming days. The Bank of Tanzania said it had traded $29.75 million on the interbank foreign exchange market this week.
Orient Bank chief dealer, Isaac Iga, said, "I see the shilling trading between 2,720-2,760 but this (dollar) demand will likely keep it on the (weaker) side."
The cedi traded at 3.1500 to the dollar at 1300 GMT, from 3.1990 at the start of the trading day. It hit a record low of 3.8900 in July. "People are genuinely optimistic about the IMF talks with the hope that it would lead to a prudent fiscal management," Barclays Bank analyst Michael Akpakli said.