South Africa struggling to match its regional peers

South African Q4 GDP surprised on the upside but, 2009 aside, sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA’s) largest economy still grew at its slowest pace for over a decade over the course of last year as a whole. Meanwhile, recent data for Kenya and Ghana suggest that these two economies have weakened over the past few months too. Nonetheless, South Africa aside, growth across the region continues to be solid, with domestic demand being supported by robust private consumption and increasing inward foreign direct investment. Accordingly, while South Africa struggles, the rest of SSA is likely to perform well over the coming years - supporting our view that the region will experience a “twospeed” pace of growth.