Africa Economics Update South African mining rebounds, but still faces headwinds The strong rebound in South African mining output in the early part of 2013 suggests that the sector made a decent contribution to overall GDP growth in Q1. But nevertheless, the sector still faces a... 11th April 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Regional growth holding up well despite external headwinds GDP data released over the past week or so show that, while growth in a number of sub-Saharan Africa’s smaller economies slowed in the latter part of 2012, the region was still one of the world’s... 5th April 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Eurobond yields unlikely to rise sharply After falling in 2012 and early 2013, yields on African eurobonds have edged up over the past few weeks. However, the sell-off in the bond market has not been confined to Africa, as the spread over... 27th March 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Kenyan elections pass peacefully but risks still linger Events in sub-Saharan Africa have been dominated by presidential elections in Kenya. By past standards at least, the vote was peacefully and markets have remained stable. The shilling has actually... 26th March 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Weak South African rand leaves little room for rate cuts Concerns over the impact of a weak rand on inflation leaves the South African Reserve Bank with little room to cut interest rates over the coming months, despite the outlook for subdued economic... 20th March 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economic Outlook Strong domestic demand to help Africa outperform The growth outlook for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains good. Admittedly, the region will not be immune from global headwinds, particularly from the ongoing recession in Europe. Export demand may also... 15th March 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update What is driving the weakness of the South African rand? Over the past decade, fluctuations in the South African rand seem to have been driven primarily by changes in global risk appetite. But while risk appetite has improved over the past six months, the... 8th March 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South African manufacturers still facing big challenges The South African manufacturing PMI ticked up in February, but the overall sluggishness of export demand and problems in the domestic supply chain means the sector still faces significant challenges... 1st March 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: fiscal consolidation postponed again The South African Finance Ministry today nudged up its forecasts for the fiscal deficit for the next three years, but we suspect that the budget shortfall may still surprise on the upside. 27th February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack 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... 27th February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: pick-up in Q4 GDP masks underlying weakness South African Q4 GDP surprised on the upside but, 2009 aside, the economy still grew at its slowest pace for well over a decade last year. The drag from the mining sector is likely to ease over the... 26th February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Equity market rally loses steam Following a strong start to the year, the rally in sub-Saharan African equity markets has lost a little steam in the past few weeks. Nevertheless, the MSCI frontier Africa index is still up by around... 22nd February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Focus The "two-speed" continent The scope for rapid “catch-up” growth, allied with improving levels of governance, point to a relatively upbeat outlook for most of sub-Saharan Africa over the next decade or so. By contrast, a lack... 19th February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Fears over a return to "original sin" are overdone An improvement in global risk appetite and a sharp fall in emerging market bond yields over the past few months have led to a flurry of planned eurobond issues from countries in sub-Saharan Africa... 15th February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Focus Buoyant domestic demand to support regional growth Buoyant domestic demand should ensure that sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the world’s best performing regions over the next two years, even if the global economy remains weak. We are particularly... 12th February 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Inflation taking divergent paths across the region Inflation remains lower in both east and South Africa compared to west Africa, but a combination of slowing inflation in west Africa and the fact that central banks here set higher inflation targets... 1st February 2013 · 1 min read
