The allocation of portfolios to 43 appointed ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari six months after his second term reelection came as succor for stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), delivering the most return for investors in the market last week compared with its African peers.
Although before the inauguration, the Lagos bourse had lost 13.91 percent of its value since the start of the year. It snapped a three-day winning streak in the week to halt its extended bearish run, making listed stocks advance 3.25 percent and adding N403 billion to investors’ wealth.
“We believe that the bullish run would be short-lived due to sustained weak investor sentiment in the market, analysts at Lagos-based Afrinvest Securities Limited stated in a note to clients.
As a result of bargain hunting in bellwether stocks such as MTN Nigeria and Zenith Bank, the NSE broad index All-Share Index booked its best weekly performance in almost three months thereby reducing its year-to-date loss to 11.6 percent and making it take a lead among its regional peers which largely witnessed a bearish week
The Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (BRVM), a regional stock exchange serving Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Senegal and Togo, slumped 0.83 percent. The Botswana Stock Exchange lost 1.09 percent of the market, while the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania was down 0.23 percent.
Similarly, the Ghana Stock Exchange composite weakened by 0.91 percent, while the All-Share Index of Zambia’s Lusaka Stock Exchange fell 1.01 percent. The Malawi All-Share Index dropped marginally by 0.07 percent, while the key performance indicator of the Nairobi Securities Exchange closed at 1.01 percent lower.
Other African markets where key performance indices declined over the week are the Namibian Stock Exchange which shed 1.13 percent, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius which fell by 0.27 percent, and the Uganda Securities Exchange which plunged 0.62 percent.
However, the All-Share Index of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Africa’s largest stock exchange, rose 0.23 percent. Also, the stock market index for securities in Egypt, EGX 30, increased by 0.27 percent, while the Tunisia Stock Exchange appreciated by 0.52 percent.
Out of the 43 ministers, 14 returning ministers retained their past portfolios while some ministries were restructured by merging and splitting some ministries. Afrinvest’s analysts were optimistic about the development, stating the need for ensuring confidence in existing approaches and policies of the government.
The Ministry of Budget and National Planning was merged with Finance Ministry and headed by Zainab Ahmed, while the Ministry of Power led by Saleh Mamman and Ministry of Aviation headed by Hadi Sirika were unbundled from the former Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and Ministry of Transportation.
Other new ministries created are Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development; Police Affairs; and Special Duties and International Affairs under the watch of Sadiya Umar, Muhammadu Dingyadi and George Akume, respectively.
“I am pleased to inform you that the federal ministries have been further expanded to ensure effective service delivery,” the president said while assigning portfolios to the newly sworn-in ministers in Abuja.
OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN
