News in South Africa 20th February: 1. Stage 8 incoming: Experts, analysts and even Eskom itself are warning South Africans to brace for higher stages of load shedding. The embattled power utility announced on Sunday night (19 Febraury) that further breakdowns at its power stations have necessitated continuous stage 6 load shedding to be in […]
News in South Africa 14th February: 1. Rand crashes through R18/$: The rand is trading on the wrong side of R18/$ for the first time in more than three months, as expectations grow that US interest rates may still climb much higher. On Monday morning, the local currency declined to R18.06/$, after trading around R17.50 […]
News in South Africa 13th February: 1. 68% chance of recession: South Africa’s economy is increasingly vulnerable to a recession in the next 12 months, with an ongoing electricity crisis seen further curbing activity. The probability of a recession stands at 68%, up from odds of 45% in January, according to Bloomberg’s latest monthly survey […]
News in South Africa 10th February: 1. SONA 2023 disappointing: Reactions to president Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address are flooding in, with most commentators left wanting. Ramaphosa delivered his by-the-numbers address on Thursday evening (9 February), featuring all the qualities South Africans have come to expect from the annual event. Proceedings were disrupted […]
News in South Africa 7th February: 1. 100 consecutive days of load shedding: Energy minister Gwede Mantashe says that the ongoing energy crisis in South Africa is an “irritation” to society, and if it is not resolved, it could lead to a revolt among the populace. Speaking at the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba on […]
News in South Africa 6th February: 1. Eskom – state of disaster: The call by the ANC for a state of disaster to be declared over the energy crisis has alarmed many across society. Organised business was also surprised by the announcement, given that only a few months ago the president said a state of disaster […]
News in South Africa 26th January: 1. Sarb expected to moderate rate hikes: South Africa’s central bank is set to moderate its most aggressive interest-rate hiking cycle in at least two decades Thursday, and economists and traders will be on high alert for any signs of a pivot away from policy tightening. The median expectation […]
News in South Africa 25th January: 1. R1.2trn needed for food import costs: Farmers in Africa will need as much as $65 billion (nearly R1.2 trillion) in loans annually to produce enough food to curb imports and cushion their economies from external shocks. The continent imports over 100 million metric tons of cereals at an […]
News in South Africa 24th January: 1. Over 1 900 business shut down in 2022: Stats SA has published the latest liquidation data for South Africa, showing that company liquidations shot up over 30% in December 2022 year on year – although overall closures for the full year were slightly lower than the year before. […]
News in South Africa 23rd January: 1. Interest rate decision: South Africa’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will hold its first meeting of the year to decide on interest rates on Thursday, and while economists agree that the central bank will continue to hike rates, they are split on the size of the increase. Last year was […]
