African Stocks: Nigeria Drops; Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe Advance

Nigeria's stock market declined for a third consecutive week, led by Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc, the country's biggest cement maker by market value. The main stock indexes in Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe rose.

Nigeria's All-Share Index slid 2.1 percent to 59,124.87, its lowest in almost nine weeks. Lafarge Wapco dropped 11.68 naira, or 19 percent, to 51.32 naira.

Retail investors are selling out of panic, Olumide Awe, an analyst at CSL Securities Ltd., a Lagos-based share trading company, said in a phone interview. Some investors may now begin buying ``based on valuation,'' he added.

Kenya's stock market climbed for a fifth week. The NSE 20 Index gained 3 percent to 5,364.72, led by CMC Holdings Ltd. The car dealer rose 21 percent to 18.25 shillings.

Equity Bank Ltd., Kenya's biggest provider of small loans, rallied 16 percent to 252 shillings. The company said April 29 that first-quarter profit rose 80 percent to 727 million Kenyan shillings ($11.7 million) as lending surged in the three months through March.

In Zimbabwe, the Industrials Index advanced 16 percent to 83.67 billion. The southern African nation has the world's highest inflation rate, 164,900 percent, prompting investors to buy stocks as a hedge against the rising prices of goods.

Ghana's All-Share Index climbed 2.9 percent to a record 9,349.59, its 39th straight weekly gain.

Mauritius's Semdex Index was little changed at 1,854.35. Naiade Resorts Ltd., owner of six hotels on the Indian Ocean island, rose 3 percent to 84.50 rupees. Air Mauritius Ltd., the national carrier, added 4 percent to 23.50 rupees. Mauritius Commercial Bank, the biggest lender, declined 1 percent to 175 rupees.

The Botswana Stock Exchange's Domestic Company Index fell 1.1 percent to 7,258.79, while Namibia's Overall Index dropped 1.4 percent to 963.60.