The COBRA Newsletter provides an update on South Africa’s economy that’s relevant to the business world. With the never-ending COVID-19 pandemic and other macroeconomic disturbances, it’s become incredibly important to understand what’s been happening in our economy, as well as what can be expected in coming months.
January 2022
Interest Hikes are Coming, 2022 is Here
From interest rate hikes to a decrease in SME business confidence, South Africa has started 2022 with a bang. With the last repo rate increase being in November 2021, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet on January 27th to
December 2021
2022 Approaches and the fourth wave commences
As 2021 comes to an end, South Africa sees a drastic rise in its infection rate, an unemployment rate spike, and a drop in third quarter GDP growth. The country is currently in the midst of a fourth wave
November 2021
Election results and electricity shortages
From persistent load-shedding to South African elections, we have had an interesting start to the month of November. Eskom has varied the stages of blackouts, moving the nation back and forth from stage 2 to stage 4 load-shedding, making
October 2021
Rising inflation and rolling blackouts, what’s in store for South Africa
The month of October has brought on new waves of load-shedding, revised estimates for interest rate hikes, and data releases that indicates South Africa is on a positive growth path. Earlier this week, it was announced stage 2 load
A positive growth track, but for how long?
From global developments to spontaneous power outages, and South Africa moving to level 1 lockdown, the start of October has been filled with mixed surprises. It was just last week when the UK announced South Africa would be coming
Growth is here with SARB at the wheel
From updated growth estimates and the SARB’s interest rate decision, to a rapidly decreasing infection rate, the month of September has been unexpected. Recently, the Monetary Policy Committee conducted several sessions to discuss whether or not to raise the
September 2021
GDP rises but is it enough for now?
From a lower infection rate to an unprecedented rise in South Africa’s GDP for the second quarter of 2021, the start of September has brought some welcome surprises. Almost 18 months after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced our country would
August 2021
The Aftermath of July Events
With August coming to an end, we’re starting to take stock of the past couple of months and prepare for the future. This week marked several important data releases, many of which will provide insight into how well our
July 2021
Taking Stock of South Africa’s Civil Unrest and the Third Wave
It’s been three weeks since the looting and rioting took place in South Africa, with over 200 malls damaged to varying degrees of severity and the loss of thousands of jobs that will take months, if not years, to
