NKC African Economics

Ninth-straight goods trade surplus narrowing in January Credit extension falls in January as uncertainty rises US consumer sentiment at a 6-month low India GDP returns to growth in Q4

Zambia - Inflation hit a new multi-year high this month, with further rate hikes seen.

Africa – Weekly Covid-19 update. Botswana – BoB keeps banking rate unchanged. DRC – Consumer price inflation ends 2020 on a high note. Egypt – Current account driven deeper into deficit territory. Egy...

After remaining remarkably stable in 2020, the Tanzanian shilling weakened by 0.02% m-o-m to an average of TSh2,298.40/$ in January. A decline in dollar inflows was likely the main driver behind this...

A 13.6% m-o-m plunge in goods exports was met by a 4.2% m-o-m rise in imports, which resulted in South Africa recording a R11.8bn merchandise trade surplus in January. This is notably smaller than the...

As of Thursday, February 25, there were a total of 331,292 active Covid-19 cases (confirmed cases minus deaths and recoveries) in Africa – down by 20,313 compared with a week prior. The decrease in ac...

A report by Amnesty International, released on Friday, February 26, has detailed abuses committed by both Ethiopian and Eritrean troops in the northern Tigray region during the month-long conflict aga...

The latest data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) shows that Egypt’s current account deficit widened by $2.4bn y-o-y to $9.4bn over the first three quarters of 2020. This reflects a deterioration i...

According to the Central Bank of Congo (BCC), headline inflation ticked higher to 20.7% y-o-y in December 2020, from 20.4% y-o-y in November. This 0.3 ppt increase is ascribed to inflation in both the...

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Botswana (BoB) has decided to leave the bank rate unchanged at 3.75% following a slow rise in inflation over the past few months. The central bank co...

Seasonally adjusted claims on the domestic private sector moved broadly sideways, albeit declining marginally in January. This is the first decline after three consecutive monthly increases in private...

The harmonised consumer price index (IHPC) for last month shows a sharp drop in annual inflation: from 2.5% y-o-y in December to 0.9% y-o-y in January. On a monthly basis the index contracted by 1.4%,...

Covid-19 headwinds have battered the economy, which in the third quarter of 2020 slipped into its first recession in over two decades. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), real...

The Nigerian economy surprised to the upside with a 9.7% q-o-q expansion in 2020 Q4. This means that real GDP contracted by 1.9% in the full year 2020, somewhat stronger than our estimate of a 2.2% dr...