Africa Chart Pack Africa: Political risk takes centre stage Political developments across Africa have raised risk perceptions in several key economies. Allies of South Africa’s president made yet another attempt to force the resignation of Pravin Gordhan, the... 27th October 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Is Africa’s economic downturn finally bottoming out? The latest GDP figures all support our view that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole will be even worse in 2016 than it was in 2015, when it hit a 16-year low. The key question now is... 28th September 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Africa: Policy risks cast shadow over fragile economies Official data released over the past month mostly suggested that African economies improved a touch, but a series of political shocks has hit investor confidence. The most high-profile of these as... 30th August 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Nigeria: Central Bank puts its money where its mouth is Nigeria’s self-proclaimed move to a more “flexible” exchange rate last month was initially a disappointment, with the Central Bank of Nigeria reasserting its grip at N282/US$. Over the last week... 29th July 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Africa: Economic giants now contracting Both the Nigerian and South African economies contracted in Q1, and the latest activity figures suggest that things remained very grim going into Q2. In Nigeria, disruptions to oil output in Q2 have... 16th June 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Nigeria: Crisis escalates The situation in Nigeria has deteriorated significantly over the past month. The latest national accounts figures show that the economy contracted by 0.4% y/y in Q1, a much worse outcome than had been... 30th May 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Africa: IMF takes centre stage Events this month have underlined the continuing importance of the IMF for many economies across Africa. On 6 th April the government of Angola requested an IMF bailout to help stabilise an economy... 28th April 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Nigeria reverses course? The biggest policy change over the past month came from Nigeria, where the Central Bank unexpectedly hiked its key interest rate from 11.00% to 12.00%. This move partially reversed the Bank’s rate cut... 30th March 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Nigeria: Balance of payments problems escalating The strains in Nigeria's balance of payments are growing, threatening to push Sub-Saharan Africa's largest economy into a full-blown crisis. The Nigerian economy has been battered by the falling price... 23rd February 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Headwinds strengthen in key African economies Recent figures have only strengthened our belief that the challenges facing Africa’s three largest economies are growing. Nigeria’s botched response to low oil prices has caused the currency to plunge... 28th January 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack South Africa battered by self-induced crisis A recent series of unexpected cabinet reshuffles – in which South Africa had three finance ministers in four days – has dented the political and economic credibility of President Jacob Zuma. The rand... 14th December 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Inflation worries, Fed prompt hikes across Africa Over the past month central banks in South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, and Mozambique have all hiked interest rates. These countries’ domestic situations all vary, but each is facing a combination of high... 20th November 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Cote d’Ivoire & Tanzania: Peaceful elections a welcome sign Peaceful elections held earlier this month in Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania were welcome signs of improving institutions in both countries. While final results haven’t been announced yet, the fact that... 27th October 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Reasons for optimism are few and far between The past month has seen a raft of very bad news from key African economies. New government figures show that growth slowed in Q2 in Ghana and that South Africa’s economy actually contracted. Forward... 28th September 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack African interest rates begin rise The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) finally began its long-awaited tightening cycle by raising the repo rate from 5.75% to 6.00% this month. We had anticipated the move, and expect that the SARB... 29th July 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Rate hikes to add to pressure on South Africa’s economy April’s activity data hinted at an uptick in South Africa’s economy, but we believe that thecontinent’s most developed economy will continue to face significant headwinds over the comingmonths. Growth... 29th June 2015 · 1 min read
