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In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look at how Covid-19 has affected Africa.
Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Neville Mandimika, an economist and fixed income strategist at Rand Merchant Bank. Mandimika says the pandemic will affect African economies in many ways, including commodity prices and exchange rates.
He also explains how African governments have done their best to get social distancing implemented, though they have approached lockdown in different ways. In SA, people have been told to stay home, but there is greater freedom of movement in countries such as Nigeria where a strict lockdown has only been imposed on Lagos and Abuja.
Mandimika says he expects to see some growth, albeit small, in countries such as Kenya and Ghana. This is because growth prospects for those geographies were already relatively high before the pandemic took hold. A contraction is expected across the continent but those regions are likely to fare better, he said.
One of the biggest considerations for SA corporations with operations in other African countries is currency fluctuations, Mandimika says.
The discussion also looks at the effect of global oil prices on various countries, the policy responses of central banks and governments to Covid-19 and possible time frames for a recovery.
For more episodes, click here.
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• Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE production.
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