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 Economics Weekly Setting the scene for SA’s budget, Zambia’s rate hike South Africa’s budget speech next Wednesday will be closely watched for any changes in the government’s fiscal consolidation plans - any signs that officials are wavering on austerity could trigger a... 19th February 2021 · 5 mins read
Africa Data Response Nigeria GDP (Q4 2020) Nigeria’s Q4 GDP data showed that a poor performance in the oil sector was more than offset by a continued rebound in the non-oil economy. While we think that some of the headwinds facing the economy... 18th February 2021 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update SA probably dodged double-dip recession in Q4 South Africa’s hard activity data for December suggest that the economy avoided contraction in Q4, but the pace of the recovery slowed and is likely to remain weak. 17th February 2021 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Vaccine confusion, the humdrum of SONA Disappointing news from a trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the South African variant of COVID-19 will further complicate vaccination campaigns across the region, and could delay recoveries... 12th February 2021 · 7 mins read
Africa Economics Update Revisiting the problems at Eskom Problems at South Africa’s state electricity firm, Eskom, are an increasingly painful thorn in the side of the economy with higher tariffs and an overhaul of the firm’s finances needed to put it on a... 10th February 2021 · 6 mins read
Africa Economics Update Another blow to vaccine distribution in Africa Disappointing vaccine developments mean that policymakers in Africa could be forced to keep restrictions on activity in place for longer, delaying economic recoveries and deepening scarring effects. 8th February 2021 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly (Un)Common Framework, a little cheer in South Africa Zambia has become the latest country – after Chad and Ethiopia – to seek debt restructuring under the G20’s Common Framework, but tough negotiations lie ahead and few other countries are likely to go... 5th February 2021 · 5 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jan.) The rise in South Africa’s manufacturing PMI in January appears to hide underlying weakness in activity on the back of virus-related restrictions. Even with some signs of a break in the clouds over... 1st February 2021 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Different IMF takes on fiscal policy, Nigeria’s funding gap The IMF’s campaign encouraging governments to broaden fiscal support to prop up recoveries does not seem to extend far and wide. While the Fund appears to be backing a pause in Kenya’s fiscal... 29th January 2021 · 5 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 Economic Outlook Late to the vaccine recovery The second waves of COVID-19 currently ripping through Sub-Saharan Africa will keep economic activity depressed over the coming months and, even once vaccines belatedly reach the region, recoveries... 28th January 2021 · 22 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly South Africa’s state guarantee snub, vaccine round-up The South African government’s decision this week to provide no further debt guarantees to state-owned lender Land Bank underscores the mounting pressure on the public purse. And even with some... 22nd January 2021 · 6 mins read
Africa Economics Update SARB hunkering down for long period of low rates Policymakers in South Africa looked through the recent virus-related deterioration in economic conditions and kept the policy rate unchanged, at 3.50%, today. As the recovery struggles to gain... 21st January 2021 · 3 mins read
Africa Data Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Dec.) The further drop in South Africa’s headline inflation rate, to 3.1% y/y in December, coming alongside the recent tightening of virus containment measures supports our view that the Reserve Bank will... 20th January 2021 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update Oil price rally will ease African producers’ pain...a bit The rise in oil prices this year is likely to prove insufficient to remove strains in African oil producers’ balance sheets. Currencies in Nigeria and Angola will have to weaken further, and... 18th January 2021 · 3 mins read
