Latest Analysis
SA Daily Economic Report: Morning market update
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
Fixed Income Daily: Bond market and currency metrics for African capital markets
Zambia - Inflation hit a new multi-year high this month, with further rate hikes seen.
Daily Africa Insight: An overview of today’s key events and developments
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...
Talking Point: Tanzania – Shilling holds steady against the US dollar in January
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...
Talking Point: South Africa – Ninth-straight goods trade surplus narrowing in January
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...
Talking Point: Africa – Weekly Covid-19 update
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...
Talking Point: Ethiopia – Report details human rights abuses in Tigray
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...
Talking Point: Egypt – Current account driven deeper into deficit territory
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...
Talking Point: DRC – Consumer price inflation ends 2020 on a high note
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...
Talking Point: Botswana – BoB keeps banking rate unchanged
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...
Talking Point: South Africa – Credit extension falls in January as uncertainty rises
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...
Talking Point: Senegal – Inflation drops sharply in January
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%,...
Economy pounded into recession by Covid-19 in 2020, rebound seen in 2021
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...
GDP growth surprises in late 2020 but price and liquidity pressures persist
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...
Featured African Economic Insights
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Latest Tweets
Active #Covid19 cases in #Africa drop to a near three month low; Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire begin Covid-19 vaccines rollout.
Supreme Court in #Ghana dismisses opposition leader John Mahama's election petition, upholding President Nana Akufo-Addo's victory in the December polls. Although Mr Akufo-Addo's victory margin was small, the ruling was expected.
.#SouthAfrica’s gross reserves declined to $53.8bn in February. Reserves are expected to decline further this year as commodity prices and an increase in domestic demand add pressure to the import bill.
1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine arrived in the #DRC this week.
.#Uganda’s fiscal deficit for January exceeded the budgeted amount by 57.1%, as tax revenues fell and foreign aid dried up in the period surrounding turbulent elections.
High-frequency data releases published in the past month suggest that #Namibia recession continued in Q4 2020.
.#Uganda recorded the worst trade deficit on record during December 2020.
.#Algeria’s CPI inflation rate surged by more than a percentage point to 3.8% in January, driven by food price increases and a weakening exchange rate.
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A detailed scenario analysis of different policy actions the Central Bank of Nigeria could take in response to the foreign exchange liquidity squeeze in 2016, the effects on foreign reserves to be expected under each, and the resulting consequences for firms needing to repatriate profits.