Africa Economics Update South Africa GDP Tracker suggests sharp slowdown in Q1 Our GDP Tracker suggests that the South African economy grew at its slowest pace in nearly five years in Q1, with annualised GDP growth slumping to around 0.2% q/q from 3.8% q/q in Q4. 14th May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt’s public finances still dire, but default risk seems limited Egypt has one of the worst fiscal positions in the world, but the risk of default is lower than some seem to think. Funding from the Gulf, coupled with a domestic banking sector willing to purchase... 14th May 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Focus What another five years of ANC rule means for South Africa Victory for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa’s general election last week was largely expected and, as such, financial markets have taken the result in their stride. However... 12th May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What might an al-Sisi presidency hold in store for Egypt’s economy? Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the leader of last summer’s “second revolution”, looks set to sweep to victory in Egypt’s presidential election, scheduled for 26th - 27th May. In this Watch, we take a closer... 8th May 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: manufacturing sector to drag on GDP growth Following a solid performance at the end of last year, the latest hard manufacturing production data from South Africa suggest that the sector dragged on overall GDP growth in Q1. What’s more, a pick... 8th May 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Markets stable as early vote count suggests comfortable ANC win Voting has concluded in South Africa’s general election, and the early signs are that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will retain a comfortable majority in the national assembly. Financial... 8th May 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Drop in PMIs dashes hopes for sustained recovery in EMs April’s PMIs suggest that manufacturing across the emerging world softened further last month. While there are signs that manufacturing growth in the smaller EMs is starting to lose steam, the... 6th May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update UAE PMI hits record high April’s PMI data from the MENA region suggests that the rebound in the UAE’s economy has strengthened. Meanwhile, the economic recovery in Egypt from last summer’s unrest remains bumpy as the country... 6th May 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South African elections: what to watch out for The latest opinion polls suggest that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party will retain its majority when South Africa votes for a new national assembly in next week’s general elections... 2nd May 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Kenya: interest rate hikes likely this year The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) kept interest rates on hold today but, given the country’s large current account deficit and the fact that inflation is likely to rise over the coming months, some... 30th April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Activity Monitor Recovery in Emerging Europe picks up pace, but others struggle Although growth has remained roughly unchanged across the emerging world as a whole over the past few months, there are some stark differences in performance across regions. In particular, growth in... 30th April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update UAE and Qatar equities rally ahead of MSCI upgrade Equity markets in the UAE and Qatar have rallied in the past month ahead of their upgrade to emerging market status by MSCI. By contrast, the Egyptian stock market has had a relatively disappointing... 29th April 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Nigeria rises to top of the pile Following significant revisions to historical GDP data, Nigeria was confirmed as the largest economy in Africa earlier this month. Measured GDP has almost doubled to US$510bn, placing Nigeria... 29th April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Central Bank of Egypt holds rates as inflation outlook deteriorates The Central Bank of Egypt kept interest rates on hold today and, with the outlook for inflation deteriorating, they are likely to remain unchanged for the next six to twelve months. 28th April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Inflation follows different paths in Saudi Arabia and the UAE Inflation has followed very different paths in the Gulf’s two largest economies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in recent months. In Saudi, consumer price inflation has continued to fall... 24th April 2014 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Investors flee China’s equity market Net selling by global ETFs and mutual funds dedicated to investing in equities in China was larger in March than in any other month on record according to EPFR Global. This presumably reflected... 24th April 2014 · 1 min read
