The Kenyan shilling is seen as vulnerable in the coming week following a sharp fall in government debt yields, while Zambia's kwacha is expected to remain on the back foot as the price of its major export, copper, remains low.
But in auctions this week, the yield on the 182-day bill fell to 16.492 percent from 21.028 percent a week ago, while the yield on the 364-day bill dropped to 17.130 percent from 21.212 percent. The yield on the 91-day bill plummeted to 13.763 percent, compared to 19.471 percent at last week's sale.
"We still see a weak kwacha going into next week. Copper prices remain low at $5,100 per tonne. Yields are rising on the domestic market but this effect has been countered by the anticipated hiking of rates in the US," BancABC Zambia head of Treasury John Mapiye said.
Bank of Uganda has tightened its policy stance this year by raising its benchmark rate by a total of 600 basis points to 17 percent and market players are expecting a possible further hike on December amidst a surge in consumer prices.
Nigeria's central bank had directed bureau de change operators to demand details of a biometric Bank Verification Number (BVN) before selling dollars to them. "Most customers are not comfortable giving out their BVN before purchasing dollars from us and therefore preferred to patronise black market for dollars, pushing down the value of the naira," Aminu Gwadabe president of the bureau de change operators said. The BVN is meant to verify the identity of bank's customer and reduce fraud.
"For the past few weeks, it's been good. There's been regular supply of dollars on the market and the cedi is expected to remain stable in the weeks ahead as well," said Joseph Amponsah of Dortis Research in Accra.