Africa Risk-Reward Index

Another notable drop in the Absa PMI German manufacturing virus is spreading ZAR slides as global growth gloom deepens Weak PMIs cap oil price gains

Nigeria – We see scope for bear-flattening of the curve as inflation reached an estimated trough just after mid-year, with the expected resumption of the easing cycle delayed to 2020 Q2. Meanwhile, po...

Namibia: Fuel imports burn away current account surplus. South Africa: Mboweni's proposals now part of formal policy structures. South Africa: Another notable drop in the Absa PMI. Uganda:...

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni had the full backing of President Cyril Ramaphosa when he restated the main points of the National Treasury economic rescue plan during his presentation to the ruling par...

On Monday, September 30, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) released its latest consumer price index (CPI) publication. Headline inflation decreased to 1.9% y-o-y in September from 2.1% y-o-y in A...

Following a single quarter of being in surplus, it was back to usual as Namibia recorded a substantial current account deficit in Q2 2019 – the widest deficit since 2016. The current account deficit w...

The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped further to 41.6 points in September, from 45.7 points in August. This follows another significant reduction in the previous month,...

Trade account back in surplus in August Money and credit supply growth drops Slowdown in eurozone inflation and labour markets continues Weak EM sentiment keeps ZAR pinned

Egypt’s protest momentum appears crippled as the push for change is unlikely to overcome the harsh crackdown following the 20 September demonstrations. An uneasy political stability is likely to persi...

Namibia – We see a 40% probability of another 25-bps repo rate cut by the end of the year, which is likely to translate into further yield suppression.

Angola: Inflation increases further in August. Cameroon: Inflation surprises to the upside in H1. Nigeria: Mounting external pressure could pose familiar challenge. South Africa: Trade...

Economic growth continues to dry up in the desert economy, largely due to a double blow of severe drought and a slump in diamond production, but also due to continued weakness in the construction and...

South Africa recorded a merchandise trade surplus of R6.84bn in August, following a revised trade deficit of R3.72bn in July 2019 (previously: -R2.88bn). These statistics include trade data from B...

On September 17, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), an independent group convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO), published its first report warning of the imm...