Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
April 4, 2017
Africa Economic Update (Issue 2)
Business activities in Africa
slightly improved in February 2017 albeit at a slow rate. Sales Managers Index
(SMI) for Africa an assessment of business condition in Pan-African Economy
increased by 0.4 index points from 52.2 points in January 2017 to 52.6 points
in February 2017. Sub-Saharan African countries experienced better
business activities than North Africa in the review period. The two largest
economies in the region, Nigeria (48.5 index points) and South Africa (49.2
Index points) registered contraction in the review period as Nigeria remained
in recession while high unemployment remained a problem in South Africa. The
growth in SMI recorded in the review period is driven by improvement in
business confidence and sales price which outweighed the fall in other
components market growth, sales output and staffing level.
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 20)
Power sector
analysis shows an increase in power generated by 15.5 percent from 3639.2 megawatt
to a peak of 4196.2 megawatt between April 22, 2016 and April 29, 201612,
albeit a sharp fall to 25.2 megawatts on April 23, 2016 following a system
collapse13. In a bid to attain the targeted 10,000 megawatts by 2019,
the Federal Government is set to complete the ongoing 47 power transmission
projects across the country, which would boost power supply14.
However, the delays in passing the budget into law is a major constraint to the
completion of the projects. Thus government needs to speed-up the passage of
the 2016 budget to provide the funds to complete the projects.