Africa Chart Pack Not hopping on the bandwagon of EM rate hikes Central banks in Sub-Saharan Africa bucked a recent “trend” of interest rate hikes in other emerging markets this month. Policymakers in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Angola all kept their... 30th March 2021 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Commodity price rally no panacea for Africa The recent rally across almost all commodity prices is good news for resource-rich economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Balance sheets in oil producing countries like Nigeria and Angola will get a boost... 26th February 2021 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Fiscal policy cocktails of 2021 Governments across Sub-Saharan Africa seem to have mixed plans for fiscal policy this year. There are signs that policymakers in some countries – including Nigeria, Ghana and perhaps Kenya – will... 28th January 2021 · 11 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Lagging behind: second waves, vaccines & recoveries The latest national accounts data from Sub-Saharan Africa tell a story of the good, the bad and the ugly. South Africa’s economy mounted a surprisingly strong recovery in Q3, and a solid rebound in... 18th December 2020 · 12 mins read
Africa Chart Pack “Vaccine boost” faces hurdles Encouraging news about highly effective coronavirus vaccine trials has brightened Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic outlook. However, the region is facing higher barriers compared to many other parts of... 27th November 2020 · 12 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Political problems piling up Political developments dominating the news in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past month threaten to add to the headwinds facing economic recoveries. Protests in Nigeria that were initially focused on... 29th October 2020 · 12 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Growth concerns mounting in Nigeria Nigeria is facing an uphill battle to breathe life into its economic recovery. Following a sharp 6.1% y/y fall in GDP in Q2, more recent figures suggest that activity remains muted. Admittedly, Google... 29th September 2020 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Political headwinds mount as recoveries stutter Many African policymakers have further eased coronavirus-related restrictions in recent weeks, but there are signs that economic recoveries have stalled at the start of Q3. High-frequency data from... 27th August 2020 · 12 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Recovery threatened by rising virus cases The past month has brought further signs that countries across Sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to bring the coronavirus under control. Of course, the true extent of the spread of the virus is... 31st July 2020 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Not out of the woods The recovery in global risk appetite and in commodity prices has eased strains in balance of payments across the region. But conditions remain much worse than the they were before the crisis flared up... 23rd June 2020 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Lockdowns lifting Governments across much of Sub-Saharan Africa have moved towards lifting coronavirus containment measures in recent weeks but, with the exception of South Africa, this has much more to do with... 29th May 2020 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Debt risks growing The risk of further sovereign defaults has risen across the region this month. Rwanda has joined Zambia in seeking to restructure its sovereign debt. And the collapse in oil prices will put more... 30th April 2020 · 10 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Africa: Oil prices, virus outbreak batter economies Given the pace at which the coronavirus is disrupting activity both in Africa and globally, most of the backward-looking figures released this month probably tell us very little about the current... 26th March 2020 · 10 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Warning lights across the region Recent news added to our general sense of pessimism about most African economies in 2020. While the region has yet to report any cases of the new coronavirus, falling commodity prices are already... 27th February 2020 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Policymakers step up African central banks had a busy month in January. Policymakers in South Africa and Kenya surprised the markets (and us) by cutting their key rates by 25bp. We expect that both countries’ central... 31st January 2020 · 13 mins read
Africa Chart Pack South Africa: A year to forget The final round of South African data released this year supported our view that the economy faltered in recent months. Output fell by 0.6% q/q saar in Q3, and the latest figures suggest that the... 18th December 2019 · 13 mins read
