The sharpest move this week did not come from oil but from coffee, with the contract falling 9.7% to 328.15 cents, a drop that directly changes the read-through for agriculture-linked stocks in Nairobi, while cocoa stayed positive at $5,934.0 a tonne, up 0.5%. For readers looking at African stock markets today, that divergence matters far beyond commodity screens because it affects export income, processor margins and currency expectations across several exchanges.
Wheat, up 4.7% to 695.75 cents, and cotton, up 4.3% to 87.7 cents, added a second layer of pressure, especially for net import markets such as Tunisia and, to a lesser extent, Morocco. At the same time, the US dollar strengthened against several African currencies, with USD/MAD at 9.258 up 3.12%, USD/TND at 2.892 up 1.97%, and USD/KES at 129.4 up 0.79%. That combination — higher agricultural inputs and weaker local currencies — is usually negative for listed processors and consumer names that rely on imports.
Key figures
- Coffee: -9.7% to 328.15 cents
- Wheat: +4.7% to 695.75 cents
- Cotton: +4.3% to 87.7 cents
- Cocoa: +0.5% to $5,934.0 a tonne
- USD/KES: +0.79%, USD/TND: +1.97%