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 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 Weekly US aid to Ethiopia on ice, debt relief state of play The US’s move to suspend some aid to Ethiopia amid tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam risks further actions that would limit Ethiopia’s fiscal space. Meanwhile, momentum to expand a... 4th September 2020 · 7 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Flurry of FX action in Nigeria, looming strikes in SA The Central Bank of Nigeria this week took further steps to tighten its oversight over foreign currency transactions and, even if the country’s multiple exchange windows are set to a unified rate, we... 28th August 2020 · 6 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria’s limited fiscal space bites, SA banks in spotlight Nigerian government spending proposals for 2021, floated this week, signal just how much of a bind the authorities are in. Letting the naira weaken would be one way to address the large budget deficit... 21st August 2020 · 7 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Covid cases fall in SA, security risks to Mozambican gas 14th August 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Investments under threat in Nigeria and South Africa Foreign investments into the biggest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa took a blow this week. We think that the announcement of a major food retailer’s exit from Nigeria may be representative of the... 7th August 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Fund times: Angola, South Africa and the IMF The Angolan authorities are seeking to expand the country’s IMF programme, which would help to ease balance of payments strains. But it’s far from a done deal as the Fund may require a restructuring... 31st July 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly IMF increasing funding limits, SA’s economic recovery The IMF’s decision to expand access limits could open the way for African economies to receive more multilateral support, but the Fund clearly wants countries to move to programmes with conditionality... 24th July 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Ethiopia’s dam, South Africa’s fiscal conundrum Tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam have ratcheted up over the past week, raising the risk of conflict with Egypt, which would do severe damage to both the country’s near- and long-term... 17th July 2020 · 7 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Naira devaluation, uncertainty in CIV, industrialisation Nigeria appears to have devalued the official naira exchange rate this week but the move has, if anything, further dented hopes for a shift towards a market-driven and unified exchange rate regime... 10th July 2020 · 6 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly SA trade data, oil producers in the line of fire South Africa’s external sector probably shifted from being an economic tailwind to a headwind in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Africa’s oil producers are facing mounting pressure from OPEC to comply... 3rd July 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Grim budget in SA, Nigeria’s FX buzz and debt woes South Africa’s emergency budget highlighted that the government plans to turn to harsh austerity to try to deal with the legacy of higher debt, but this is unlikely to be politically sustainable in... 26th June 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Naira unity, China debt talks, South Africa’s budget Nigeria’s government is rumoured to seek the merger of the country’s main exchange rates, but a unified and market-determined naira still seems far away. A speech by Chinese president Xi Jinping shed... 19th June 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria’s finances, debt relief uptake on the rise Nigeria’s revised budget for 2020 is nearing a final hurdle of approval, but the deficit will probably exceed the government's expectations. And despite the recent rise in oil prices and easing... 12th June 2020 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Angolan debt, South African court ruling Angola’s debt problem returned to the fore this week as the government announced that it is seeking debt relief under a G20 initiative and to reprofile oil-related debts, but we think that more will... 5th June 2020 · 5 mins read
