Zimbabwe’s dollar planes

Mobile money booms in South African nation, BRVM stock market at six-year high, MNT-Halan & d.light's mega rounds, Ethiopia makes $1.4bn from coffee, & how weak currencies dampen the allure of rallying African stocks.

Author

Anthony Miclet
July 25, 2024

Good Morning,

At least monthly, a private aircraft touches down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. Its cargo: millions of US dollars in cash. This comes as mobile money players, per a Bloomberg report, ship in US dollars with planes as Zimbabwe's currency crisis deepens. 

Separately, Liberia might be the next African nation to get Starlink after Elon Musk’s seemingly jovial call with President Joseph Boakai, Sr. Tap here to see where the satellite internet service is currently live in Africa.

In other major stories for the week:

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Markets Wrap

Equities: The BRVM benchmark Composite index posted its best weekly performance since July 2021 last week, rising 3.25% to close at 239.18 points, also its highest level in six years.

Crypto: The price of bitcoin mostly held up while Ether sunk Wednesday, a day after its fairly successful spot ETF debut. ETH dipped as low as $3,300, an almost 4% decline over the past 24 hours.

Commodities: Crude oil prices settled higher but are down weekly, hovering close to their lowest level in six weeks due to concerns over weak global demand. Under pressure from US 10-year bond yields, gold continues losing ground and has retreated below $2,400 to hit a two-week low on Wednesday.

Markets

Earnings

Dividends

A Message From Daba

This Stock Soared By 23% in Just One Month! 📈

SAPH Cote d'Ivoire is this week's BRVM stock spotlight! 📈

Starting the year at 2,350 XOF, SAPH (SPHC) has surged by 27.7%, ranking third on the BRVM by year-to-date share price growth.

That rally followed an impressive financial performance in the year's first quarter. And shareholders can be optimistic; the stock has accrued 23% over the past four weeks and shows no sign of slowing down.

Want to stay ahead of the curve and discover more high-potential investment opportunities like this? Every week, we reveal what the region’s best equity research analysts believe are the 10 best stocks on the BRVM for investors to buy…

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The Week’s Top Stories

Orange’s ascent

Ivorian telecom firm overtakes Sonatel as most valuable company on BRVM

Telecom giant Orange Cote d'Ivoire (ORAC) briefly overtook Senegalese counterpart Sonatel (SNTS) as the most valued BRVM company, a few weeks after hitting the highest level since the 2022 IPO.

But Sonatel reclaimed, a day after, its long-held position with a market capitalization of more than 2 trillion FCFA.

Both affiliated telecom giants recently helped the regional bourse to its highest point in six years and are available for investing on the Daba app.

Ethiopian coffee

Horn of African nation generates record $1.4bn from coffee as exports soar

Ethiopia, one of Africa's largest producers and exporters of coffee, made $1.43bn in revenue during the just-concluded fiscal year. 

That’s the Horn of Africa nation’s largest earnings from the commodity on record and came after it exported 298,500 tonnes of coffee, 20% more than in the previous year.

Widely recognized for its quality and rich flavors, ranging from winy to fruity and chocolatey, Ethiopian coffee has been in great demand across the globe.

Beauty play

Kenyan skincare startup Uncover gets $1.4m for Ghana, Uganda expansion

Kenyan marketplace for skin care products, Uncover, has raised $1.4 million in seed funding to expand into the US, Ghana, and Uganda.

Launched in 2021 with a presence in Nigeria as well, Uncover creates personalized skin care products and distributes them through its e-commerce platform and third-party pharmaceutical chains.

This is the startup’s third funding round, as it aims to capture Africa’s beauty and personal care market, which is expected to grow by $6.65 billion from 2023 to 2027.

Headline Roundup

A summary of the major business, tech, and finance headlines of the past week.

Economy & Macro

M&A and Corporate Deals

Startups and VC

Fundraising and Accelerators

  • Ghana-based investor Oasis Capital hits first close of $100m fund

  • Nigeria’s Access Bank gets $295m to support small businesses

  • One Acre Fund raises $1.4m with plans to support farmers in Africa

Must-Reads on Daba

Boost your investing IQ with educational blogs and thematic articles on Africa.

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Insights

Perspectives

Opportunities Corner

Discover funding, awards, and accelerator opportunities to boost your startup's growth. Deadline in brackets.

Chart of the week

Get more context into themes shaping Africa’s investing landscape.

African Stock Markets Are Booming. But Currency Woes Dampen Allure: Almost everywhere you look in Africa, stock markets are soaring, with some exchanges hitting unprecedented levels. Good news for local investors but weak currencies erode equity returns for dollar investors, dimming the continent’s appeal as a frontier market destination. We argue that the BRVM offers a compelling alternative in our latest insights piece. CLICK HERE or the button below to read.

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Catch you next week!