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 37)
OPEC Monthly oil report reveals that Nigeria
recorded the highest month-on-month increase in crude oil production among the
OPEC member countries in August 2017. Specifically, at an increasing rate of 8
percent, domestic oil production rose to pre-2016 level of 1.86 million barrels
per day in August 2017. With ongoing repairs in the sector, oil
production could get to 2.2 million barrels per day in the near term, albeit
the prior voluntary agreement to cap production at 1.8 million barrels per day.
Going forward, there is need to address poor planning and policy
inconsistencies in the sector, in order to ensure the influx of investors who
have channeled their investments to other African countries due to laxity in
policies in the sector.