Nampak lets go of hedging grip
Company dispenses with trading safeguards for cash balances in Nigeria after new exchange unlocks liquidity
Nampak CEO Andre de Ruyter says the company has decided not to hedge its cash balances in Nigeria as it has become far easier to repatriate funds from the West African state. The introduction of the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (Nafex) market in April had "unlocked significant liquidity" in the country, De Ruyter said. "Consequently we don’t anticipate that extracting cash out of Nigeria is going to be a problem going forward." In the end-September year, Nampak repatriated $79m from Nigeria, ahead of its earlier forecast of $54m. In so doing, it reduced its cash balance in the country by 16% to R828m. Previously, all foreign exchange transactions were facilitated by Nigeria’s central bank, which "kept a tight lid on these transactions" and used the interbank foreign exchange fixing rate. The Nafex market allows for more competitive pricing as currency buyers and sellers can transact without going through the central bank. In other words, commercial banks can now play a facil...
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