Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Mar.) The further rise in South Africa’s manufacturing PMI in March to a record high provides further evidence that the economy has rebounded strongly from the Omicron-driven dip in activity at the end of... 1st April 2022 · 2 mins read
Africa Chart Pack War in Ukraine: a varied impact across Africa Spillovers from the war in Ukraine will have a varied impact across Sub-Saharan Africa. Large oil producers such as Nigeria and Angola are benefitting from the surge in global oil prices but, for the... 31st March 2022 · 13 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Frontier debt risks are crystallising The tightening of global financial conditions since the onset of the Fed’s hiking cycle and the war in Ukraine has caused sovereign dollar bond spreads to widen significantly in several frontier... 30th March 2022 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria’s recovery picks up but FX policies start to bite The latest data from Nigeria suggest that the economy strengthened at the start of this year. But there are growing signs that the central bank’s draconian foreign exchange policies are leading to... 30th March 2022 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Ghana’s debt fight, rate decisions, Ethiopia’s conflict The Ghanaian authorities took steps this week to shore up the cedi and tackle the poor public finances but officials may eventually have to back down and turn to the IMF to shore up investor... 25th March 2022 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Update SARB continues to tighten, hawks gaining ground The upside inflation risks created by the war in Ukraine and the solid performance of South Africa’s economy prompted the Reserve Bank to push ahead with its tightening cycle today, raising the repo... 24th March 2022 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Activity Monitor Clouds gathering over the near-term outlook Activity in large parts of the emerging world has rebounded following the easing of Omicron waves, but the war in Ukraine has caused the growth outlook for most EMs to worsen again. While commodity... 24th March 2022 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update War in Ukraine exacerbates external pressures Shifts in commodity prices in response to the war in Ukraine will provide a sizeable boost to current account positions in Angola and (to a lesser extent) Nigeria this year. Elsewhere, however, higher... 23rd March 2022 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack War in Ukraine to drag on EM GDP growth The war in Ukraine will have several economic repercussions for the emerging world. We have lowered our aggregate EM GDP growth forecast for 2022 by 1%-pt, to 3.2%. Russia aside, the biggest downward... 23rd March 2022 · 9 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Feb.) South Africa’s headline inflation rate was unchanged at 5.7% y/y in February but, with the war in Ukraine increasing upside inflation risks and signs that the economic recovery has been robust... 23rd March 2022 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Focus Can EMs weather Fed tightening? For the most part, EMs are well placed to withstand rising US interest rates, but there are pockets of vulnerability where external financing needs are significant. Among the large EMs, Turkey... 22nd March 2022 · 13 mins read
Africa Economics Update Assessing public debt risks in Africa In this Update, we roll out our sovereign debt heat map that provides a snapshot of debt risks across Sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic has increased debt burdens across the continent and, with... 21st March 2022 · 6 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Cost of FX policies rising in Nigeria, fuel price cap in SA? Evidence is building that Nigeria’s unorthodox exchange rate policies are fuelling inflation and increasingly damaging economic activity. Meanwhile, the authorities in South Africa are reportedly... 18th March 2022 · 8 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Commodity shifts to worsen most EMs’ external positions Major oil producers are among the main beneficiaries of the rise in commodity prices due to the war in Ukraine. As a result, we’re becoming less concerned about Colombia’s external vulnerabilities. In... 17th March 2022 · 3 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Activity Data (Jan.) January’s hard activity data show that South Africa’s recovery gained ground following the Omicron virus wave. Taken together with more timely figures that point to a continued rebound in activity and... 16th March 2022 · 2 mins read
Africa Data Response Nigeria Consumer Prices (Feb.) The small rise in Nigeria’s headline inflation rate to 15.7% y/y last month provides further evidence that draconian foreign exchange policies are causing shortages and fuelling price pressures. There... 15th March 2022 · 3 mins read
