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Naira Drops 4%, Rand and Shilling Weaken

Naira falls 4% against USD amid economic concerns, Shilling weakens due to FX demand, and Rand depreciates on weak data but recovers with a softer dollar.

Published on 17 July 2024

1 minute read

Here’s this week’s overview of the Nigerian Naira, Kenyan Shilling, and South African Rand:

Nigerian Naira

The Nigerian Naira weakened by 4% against USD last week and is in the midst of a very challenging period.

Recent misses in inflation and foreign exchange reserves have placed question marks over the economy and the ability of the central bank to defend the currency while encouraging economic growth. Inflation figures being released this week will be key metrics for markets as the domestic picture continues to weaken.

Kenyan Shilling

Kenyan Shilling weakened against the dollar last week to trade at 128.75 on Friday. There were no data releases of note last week, with reported importer FX demand weighing on the currency.

South African Rand

South African Rand depreciated against USD last week by 0.65% to trade at 17.93 at close on Friday. Data was largely disappointing with both manufacturing and mining data far weaker than expected, but the Rand gained on a weaker dollar later in the week.