SA rates takeaways, Côte d’Ivoire Eurobonds

The South African MPC’s concerns expressed at this week’s meeting about an inflation resurgence look overdone, but with fiscal risks high ahead of the election, officials will continue to tread cautiously. There’s a growing chance that the MPC holds off lowering rates until after the polls. Meanwhile, Côte d’Ivoire this week became the first sub-Saharan African country to issue debt on international bond markets since 2019. Falling risk premia may help others on the continent secure external financing. But fiscal policy will need to stay tight which will come at the cost of weaker growth.