NKC African Economics

Namibia – Credit extension growth limps ahead. Rwanda – Industry records strong growth in March. South Africa – Ace Magashule suspended. Now what? Tunisia – Inflation increases in April. Uganda – Trad...

Africa – Weekly Covid-19 update, April 30 (Apr 30). Botswana – BoB holds rates steady as inflation accelerates (Apr 30). Central Africa – Chad’s military-led transition will continue (May 5). Côte d’I...

We forecast that real GDP will expand by a relatively moderate 3.1% in 2021 from the sharp contraction of 8.0% last year. The recovery will be supported by reduced Covid-19 containment measures and im...

The latest Monthly Merchandise Trade Statistical Bulletin released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) reports that the trade deficit increased by 33.9% m-o-m in February to $386.4m. On an annua...

Private sector credit extension (PSCE) growth remained sluggish in March – near the weakest growth rate on record – according to the Bank of Namibia’s (BoN) latest Money and Banking Statistics report....

As expected, consumer price index (CPI) inflation started to increase in April. According to data released by the National Institute of Statistics, CPI inflation reached 5.0% y-o-y in April, from 4.8%...

On Tuesday, May 4, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines Barnaby Mulenga said that operations have been halted at a copper mine the government seized from Mumbai-based Vedanta Resources due to...

The South African Recovery Tracker (SART) rose by another 3.1 pts to reach 85.3 pts in April, the highest level since the pandemic started on home soil in March 2020. This was the third consecutive im...

Industrial activity soared into positive territory on both an annual and a monthly growth basis in March. Industrial production recorded a 26.4% m-o-m gain in March, which translates into a significan...

According to IHS Markit/Stanbic Bank’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), Uganda’s private sector activity recorded significant improvements in April. The PMI increased to 57.8 points in April, up 4.6...

The internecine war consuming the ruling African National Congress (ANC) continues to escalate. In the current battle, the camp of corruption-charged Secretary General Ace Magashule is losing to the s...

When the chips are down Rand strengthens as Magashule receives suspension letter Services recovery stays solid as the US economy opens up Eurozone services PMIs signal the worst is behind

Ghana - The Ghanaian economy proved more resilient in 2020 than previously expected, but the inoculation drive has thus far disappointed, and price inflation has surprised on the upside during the fir...

Central Africa – Chad’s military-led transition will continue. DRC – State of siege. Kenya – Inflation slows across the board in April. Nigeria – Private sector growth maintains momentum.