Ghana's cedi could touch fresh lows next week amid persistently strong dollar demand, while in Nigeria an initial boost to the naira this week from the state oil firm was short-lived.

After briefly steadying against the dollar in mid-May, the cedi has recorded marginal losses as local firms craved more dollars for imports to fuel the fast-growing economy.

"We see (dollar) demand heating up and our prediction is that the dollar-cedi rate could hit the 1.9350-1.9400 band next week, unless there is some appreciable intervention from the central bank," a trader told Reuters.

The interbank market was quiet on Thursday, with traders quoting indicative rates on bilateral transactions which showed a continued cedi decline against the dollar. The cedi has slumped by more than 15 percent against the dollar since January.

The cedi opened on Thursday at $1.9295/25.

Barclays Bank Ghana trader Jacob Brobbey said despite the quietness of the interbank market, demand for the dollar remained strong amidst a supply squeeze.

"I don't expect the current situation to change much next week - the growing demand is still there on a daily basis," Brobbey said.

He said there had been dollar inflows this week from mining firms but the volumes were insufficient to meet the demand.