South African economy
Why SMEs are the Lifeblood of the South African Economy
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a staggering 98% of business in South Africa today. The fact that SMEs also employ between 50 and 60% of the country’s workforce and are responsible for a quarter of the job growth in the private sector – according to McKinsey – means they truly are the backbone of the South African economy. Yet it is SMEs that have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown regulations have wreaked havoc, with the cash flows essential to sustaining smaller businesses completely drying up in some instances. Tragic stories of once-thriving businesses having to close their doors litter the financial landscape, and certainly, the virus could not come along at a worse time for owners already grappling with a precarious economy prior to its arrival. Bu...
South Africa’s GDP Falls by 2% During First Quarter of 2020
Sourced from Finance Monthly. According to Statistics South Africa, the country’s economy decreased by 2.0% in the first quarter of 2020. Extending the technical recession the country found itself in in the last quarter of 2019. Stats SA’s latest quarterly GDP figures come only a week after SA’s finance minister Tito Mboweni tabled a supplementary budget in part of the country’s response against the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa is the worst affected country in the continent. Treasury now expects the country’s GDP to contract by a record 7.2% by the end of the year, while tax revenues are expected to fall over R300 billion shorter then what was estimated in February’s budget. Fin24 reports that the global economy is likewise looking dour. The UK is reporting a 2.2% contraction between Ja...
A Future Reimagined for Africa Post-Pandemic
Sourced from Redbubble and iStock. In a rare television broadcast Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, described the COVID-19 pandemic as “Germany’s biggest challenge since the Second World War”. It has indeed proved to be a crisis of global proportion with material implications for the economies and livelihoods of all. Governments across the globe have locked down cities, towns, villages and townships to curb the spread of the virus. Massive fiscal stimuli have been enacted to cushion the economic and humanitarian impact of the pandemic. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have set aside a large quantum of emergency financial support for countries to tap into. African countries have implemented strong containment measures to avoid further spread of COVID-19. For countries in W...
