Africa Economics Update South Africa: retail spending a bright spot, but economy weak South Africa’s surprisingly strong retail sales figures for November provided a rare piece of good news, but the economy remains extremely weak. And there’s still a significant chance that GDP... 18th January 2017 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: Manufacturing sector shows signs of life The rebound in South African manufacturing output in November is encouraging. But we expect that this was probably a blip rather than the beginning of a lasting acceleration. Figures released today by... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
EM Markets Chart Pack Bright start to 2017 unlikely to last Financial markets in the emerging world have generally made a bright start to 2017, but we doubt their recent good form will continue given the large amount of uncertainty regarding the global... 10th January 2017 · 1 min read
EM Valuations Monitor Equities to find some comfort from low valuations Emerging market (EM) equities face a tricky year, as the Fed tightens policy, Donald Trump takes office and geo-political risks blot the outlook. But while these factors probably rule out a repeat of... 5th January 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Unpacking “political risk” in EMs The tendency to bracket all EM political risk under the banner of “rising populism” conceals important nuances and prevents a proper understanding of the economic consequences of the risks that are... 5th January 2017 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria: Naira fix will prove unsustainable in 2017 Nigerian policymakers seem committed to the FX policies that have strangled their country’s economy. The situation is, however, unsustainable. We expect that the currency will be devalued again in... 21st December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Ghana: political success in an economy on the cusp of recovery Ghana’s recent election is, first and foremost, a ringing political success. On the economic front, we doubt that the election will trigger a sharp change in policy. But given that Ghana’s economy was... 16th December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack Africa: Disappointing end to a painful year The latest figures from across Africa suggest that most economies in the region continued to perform poorly at the end of 2016. Activity data from South Africa suggest that the region’s most... 15th December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria: Ambitious budget unlikely to be realised President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest budget proposal is overly ambitious; we expect that both spending and revenue will disappoint. While Mr. Buhari presented his spending plan as way of lifting the... 14th December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: More and more red lights flashing October output data suggest that, after a very weak Q3, South Africa’s economy may have contracted outright at the start of Q4. Figures released today show that retail sales fell by 0.2% y/y in... 14th December 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Financial Risk Monitor Fed tightening unlikely to cause major problems for EMs Our proprietary indicator of EM financial risk remains close to a 13-year low, which should help to reassure anyone concerned about a spate of crises across the emerging world in 2017. In particular... 13th December 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Emerging Markets Capital Flows Monitor (Nov.) Our Tracker shows that total capital outflows from the emerging world reached a ten-month high of $75bn last month. This was driven mainly by an acceleration in outflows from China, but it seems that... 9th December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response S. Africa Current Account (Q3) South Africa’s current account position deteriorated again in Q3. The wide deficit is the key reason why we expect that the rand will remain under pressure in 2017. 9th December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: Economy headed for a brutal end to the year October’s mining and manufacturing data were both worse than even the most pessimistic analysts had expected. This suggests that, after a very weak Q3, the economy may have slowed even further in Q4. 8th December 2016 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Egypt Consumer Prices (Nov.) Egyptian inflation surged to 19.4% y/y in November following the float and subsequent 50% drop in the pound against the US dollar, as well as fresh subsidy cuts. Inflation looks set to rise even... 8th December 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Economic Outlook Tepid recovery as “Big Three” continue to struggle We expect that economic growth in Africa will pick up a bit in 2017 after a disastrous result in 2016. But the region’s recovery will be very weak, largely because of the poor performance of Nigeria... 7th December 2016 · 1 min read
