March 2021

15 March 2021 – Additional duties on chicken imports to stem poultry dumping in South Africa will hit lower-end consumers hard, the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (Amie) has warned. Responding to news that the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has successfully lobbied the International Trade Administration Association (Itac) to investigate dumping with a […]

12 March 2021 – Data from the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) showed that the current account surplus narrowed to a still sizeable surplus of R197.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, from a downwardly revised R294.4bn in the third quarter. SARB said terms of trade, including gold, improved further during the period as the

11 March 2021 – The lifting of lockdown restrictions in February 2021 gave the South African economy a much-needed boost after the dismal performance in January 2021, according to the latest BankservAfrica Economic Transaction Index (BETI). “Economic transactions in February increased by 2.2% from January. This is the highest monthly increase since 2014 and 2012,”

10 March 2021 – South Africa has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and reported the highest number of confirmed cases in Africa. Stringent containment measures to curb the spread of the disease helped in saving thousands of lives but they also seriously undermined economic activity. In 2020, the South African real GDP is

9 March 2021 – South Africa’s full-year GDP contraction will become known tomorrow when fourth quarter (Q4) data for 2020 is released, possibly confirming predictions of a 7% decline in annualised growth because of the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. However, based on the latest weekly roundup by the Bureau for Economic Research

8 March 2021 – Livestock theft is costing the South African economy about R1.4 billion annually, said Willie Clack, the national chairperson of the National Stock Theft Prevention Forum (NSTPF). As a result of the damages caused by this crime to the agricultural industry, NSTPF said it would always consider livestock theft as “serious” irrespective

5 March 2021 – While the emphasis of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) was on growing the economy and creating jobs, the agricultural sector was handed what is probably the biggest challenge. Ramaphosa wants to reduce reliance on imports by 20% over the next five years. While 42 products, largely in manufacturing, have

4 March 2021 – South African private sector activity expanded again in February but at a slightly slower pace than the previous month, with new orders remaining flat while optimism was lifted by Covid-19 vaccine rollouts, a survey showed on Wednesday. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 50.2 in February from 50.8 in

3 March 2021 – South Africa has a highly developed economy and advanced economic infrastructure, making the country the leading African economy and home to 75% of the largest African companies. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been investing in significant policy improvements to restore macroeconomic stability in the country. However, even though Ramaphosa stated that boosting

2 March 2021 – The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 53 index points in February from 50.9 in the month before. The increase was supported by three of the five subcomponents gaining relative to January, while only the employment index moved lower. The supplier deliveries index also ticked down but remained