Africa Economics Weekly South Africa: from one energy crisis to the next South Africa this week marked a full year without power outages, but the effects of the energy shock from the Iran war are now starting to kick in. We think the rise in inflation in April was probably... 22nd May 2026 · 5 mins read
Africa Rapid Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Apr. 2026) The stronger-than-expected South African inflation reading for April (both headline and core) probably tips the balance towards the Reserve Bank (SARB) opting for a 25bp interest rate hike (to 7.00%)... 20th May 2026 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update Weak naira providing little boost to industry The expansion of Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity has helped to boost the current account surplus and allowed the central bank to rebuild its foreign exchange reserves. But the sharp weakening of... 18th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly SA impeachment, Angola & Zambia rate cuts This week’s restart of impeachment proceedings against South Africa’s President Ramaphosa threatens to stall the government’s reform agenda and, in turn, harm the prospect of achieving sustained GDP... 15th May 2026 · 7 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Fuel price shock driving EM inflation higher Inflation data for April released across EMs suggest that the energy price shock has pushed fuel inflation up materially and that surveys of firms’ inflation expectations are rising sharply. So far... 14th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Update Dangote refinery helping Nigeria weather supply shock The Dangote oil refinery has materially improved Nigeria’s energy security, leaving it better insulated from oil price shocks than before. Nigeria is not immune from the inflationary pressures from... 13th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria’s opposition fractures, SSA inflation and El Niño The fracturing of Nigeria’s opposition has improved President Tinubu’s re-election chances. While Tinubu has helped to improve macroeconomic stability, whoever wins the election will need to tend to... 8th May 2026 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly SA mixed trade and fiscal data, Kenya’s strains building The impact of the Iran war is likely to lead to a (manageable) deterioration in South Africa’s trade and budget balances this year. Elsewhere, Kenya’s latest data pointed to slowing growth and rising... 1st May 2026 · 5 mins read
Emerging Markets Financial Risk Monitor EM Financial Risk Monitor (Apr. 2026) Our proprietary EM financial risk indicators show that economic and financial vulnerabilities in most EMs were low coming into the energy shock. Our aggregate EM currency crisis risk indicator remains... 30th April 2026 · 8 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Africa Chart Pack (Apr. 26) The jump in energy prices due to the Iran war will lift revenues in Angola and Nigeria. And upcoming elections mean that most of the windfall will be spent, thereby supporting stronger growth. But... 30th April 2026 · 0 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Emerging Markets Capital Flows Monitor (Apr. 2026) Our measure of EM capital flows suggests that outflows eased over the course of this month, helped by the US-Iran ceasefire announcement. Perhaps more importantly, EM external balance sheets look... 28th April 2026 · 0 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly SARB can resist rate hikes, Nigeria reshuffle, E. Africa fuel This week’s latest comments from SARB Governor Kganyago reaffirmed the growing risks of interest rate hikes. For now, though, a high policy rate and a strong external position are reasons we think... 24th April 2026 · 6 mins read
Global Economics Update Fertiliser price surge to hit low-income EMs most acutely The main impact of the rise in fertiliser prices on the global economy will come via higher food inflation. But this will take time to materialise and will be much smaller than the increase in... 23rd April 2026 · 6 mins read
Africa Rapid Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Mar. 2026) South Africa’s Reserve Bank will welcome last month’s soft inflation outturn of 3.1% y/y but adjustments to administered fuel prices will cause inflation to jump in April. Even so, the headline rate... 22nd April 2026 · 2 mins read
