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. Ghana's cedi could decline to fresh lows against the dollar next week on unmet demand for the greenback by local importers unless the central bank intervenes significantly, traders said. 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.