Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Oct.) The rise in South Africa’s manufacturing PMI in October was distorted by a pick-up in supplier delivery times and, if anything, the survey suggests that the recovery continued to lose steam at the... 2nd November 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Sep.) The small drop in South African inflation, to 3.0% y/y in September, won’t be sufficient to prompt policymakers to resume their easing cycle. Equally, it reinforces the idea that price pressures are... 28th October 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Data Response Nigeria CPI (Sep.) The increase in Nigerian inflation in September, to 13.7% y/y, will probably be followed by similarly high inflation readings in the coming months. The central bank is likely to keep its benchmark... 15th October 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update South Africa’s recovery lagging behind Hard activity data from South Africa released this week point to continued weakness in the economic recovery in August despite the easing of containment measures. 14th October 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria’s deficit financing options diminishing This week’s 2021 budget presentation by Nigeria’s President Buhari points to challenges in financing the government’s ambitious spending plans, raising the risk that the authorities turn to financial... 9th October 2020 · 4 mins read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria’s reform progress: a stock take Policymakers in Nigeria are taking steps in the right direction with recent market-friendly reforms, from liberalizing petrol prices to moves towards exchange rate unification. But the government hasn... 7th October 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Zambia’s debt roller coaster, budget rumours in Nigeria Zambia’s first steps towards debt restructuring have not got off to a good start, reinforcing our fears that the process will be long and arduous. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s rumoured budget proposals... 2nd October 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Sep.) The rise in in South Africa’s manufacturing PMI in September suggests that further easing of the country’s lockdown measures has boosted activity. But there remain many obstacles to a sustained... 1st October 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Aug.) The slight fall in South African inflation, to 3.1% y/y in August, is likely to be followed by subdued inflation rates over the next few months. Even so, the SARB’s easing cycle has now come to an end... 30th September 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update CBN: economic weakness reigns supreme Today’s decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lower the benchmark rate, from 12.50% to 11.50%, shows that policymakers have put aside their concerns about inflation and are increasingly... 22nd September 2020 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Angola’s expanded IMF deal, SA lockdown easing The formal expansion of Angola’s IMF programme this week will go some way towards easing the country’s balance of payments pressures, but further debt restructuring (including private creditors) is... 18th September 2020 · 6 mins read
Africa Economics Update SARB easing cycle probably over, rates to stay low Today’s decision by South African Reserve Bank’s to keep its benchmark rate unchanged probably means that further easing is unlikely to materialise. Even so, monetary conditions are likely to remain... 17th September 2020 · 3 mins read
Africa Data Response Nigeria CPI (Aug.) The increase in Nigerian inflation in August, to 13.2% y/y, will probably stay the hand of policymakers at next week’s MPC meeting. But, with a weak economic recovery, there may still be scope for an... 15th September 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly South African economy stumbles, oil price falls Q2 GDP figures released in South Africa this week weren’t quite as ugly as we had feared, which has prompted us to revise up our full year growth forecast (to -8.5% from -11.0%). Even so, the country... 11th September 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Update More signs of a bumpy recovery in South Africa Activity data released today suggest that the pace of South Africa’s economic recovery had already started to slow in July. Taken together with a terrible Q2 GDP outturn, we think that this will give... 10th September 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update Pandemic pulse: The latest on Africa The recent drop in new Covid-19 cases in much of Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to encourage policymakers to further relax restrictions on economic activity, which will give a leg up to recoveries. 9th September 2020 · 2 mins read
