South Africa held elections last month in which the ruling ANC’s grip on power was broken for the first time in 30 years. Voters will be hoping that the new, coalition government – which includes the ANC and its long-time rivals, the Democratic Alliance, plus some other parties – can reverse the country’s long period of economic stagnation. In PPP-adjusted international dollars, South Africa’s GDP per capita is lower now in real terms that it was in 2008; and it has been overtaken by China, while India is catching up. Refresh this chart in your browser | Edit the chart in Datastream

South Africa has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19 — on the healthcare front and economically. The recent pickup in commodity prices provides some good news for the mineral-rich country and its currency has stabilised against the US dollar. But new lockdowns in Europe and news that the South African strain of COVID is more resistant to some vaccines than other variants, have dashed hopes of a swift recovery in tourism, a key part of South Africa’s economy. According to the World Bank, international tourist spending in the country typically amounts to around 2.5% of GDP. But as the chart

In line with the general global trend regarding fund flows, the South African fund industry enjoyed estimated net inflows of $71 bn over the course of the first nine months of 2020. These inflows were kind of a surprise since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the global lockdowns of economies led to a massive drawdown on the equity markets during Q1 2020. This was countered, however, by very large cushioning packages of governments and quantitative easing programs of central banks around the globe. Nevertheless, the first nine months of 2020 was a tough time for the South African

Since the onset of the pandemic, fears have been increasing about the solvency of emerging markets. Significant outflows of capital have occurred in recent months as markets enter a “risk-off” setting focusing on the US election result. This has put a spotlight on the risks of sovereign and currency crises in some of the countries worst hit by the pandemic, and none more so than South Africa. Whilst it is hard to pinpoint when the pandemic began to be reflected in financial markets, the USDZAR has depreciated 8 per cent since the beginning of March to reach 16.6 on 2

In line with the general global trend regarding fund flows, the South African fund industry enjoyed estimated net inflows of $4.3 bn over the course of the first half of 2020. These inflows were kind of a surprise since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the global lockdowns of economies led to a massive drawdown on the equity markets during Q1 2020. This was countered, however, by very large cushioning packages of governments and quantitative easing programs of central banks around the globe. Nevertheless, the first half of 2020 was a tough time for the South African fund industry

Refresh this chart in your browser | Edit the chart in Datastream South Africa is facing a series of extremely challenging economic and social problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Decisive early action, including a swift and strict lockdown, had kept the number of confirmed cases there relatively low while cases in many other countries surged. But case numbers are now rising sharply in South Africa and it seems that the early actions delayed, rather than reduced, the spread of the virus. The economic news has been severe, with the effect on the country’s manufacturing sector in April highlighted by the chart.

First, the world worried about the impact of COVID-19 on China and its near neighbours. Then concerns spread to Italy, and the rest of Europe, before reaching the US. Now, the next focus of attention is the emerging world. Nigeria, India and South Africa among others have announced wide-ranging lockdowns. Investors are beginning to take fright. South Africa’s ten-year government bond yield spiked last week, prompting the central bank to start purchasing government bonds — a move that has helped to unwind only part of the previous jump. Refresh the chart in your browser | Edit the chart in Datastream Emerging markets

The South African fund industry enjoyed estimated net inflows of $9 bn over the course of 2019. These inflows were way above the flows for 2018 ($3 bn) and occurred in a positive market environment with an increased volatility driven by discussions about a possible trade war between the U.S. and China, a possible return of the euro crisis caused by developments in Italy and France, and a general economic slowdown with decreasing earnings at the company level. Nevertheless, since the equity markets showed a very strong rebound over the course of 2019, one would expect to see net inflows

The South African fund industry enjoyed estimated net inflows of $10.0 bn over the course of the first nine months of 2019. These inflows occurred in a volatile but positive market environment driven by discussions about a trade war between the U.S. and China, a possible return of the euro crisis caused by developments in Italy and France, and a general economic slowdown with decreasing earnings at the company level. Nevertheless, since the equity markets showed a rebound over the course of 2019 so far, one would expect to see net inflows into mutual funds. Assets Under Management in the

The South African fund industry enjoyed estimated net inflows of $4.8 bn in H1 2019. These inflows occurred in a volatile but positive market environment driven by discussions about a possible trade war between the U.S. and China, a possible return of the euro crisis caused by developments in Italy and France, and a general economic slowdown with decreasing earnings at the company level. Nevertheless, since the equity markets showed a rebound over the course of H1 2019, one would expect to see net inflows into mutual funds. Assets Under Management in the South African Fund Industry The assets under

For this week’s News in Charts, we take a snapshot of some of the factors which affected financial risk across the world in the week ending 15 February. Using Fathom Consulting’s Financial Vulnerability Indicator (FVI), we can assess the vulnerability of 177 countries to four types of financial crisis (banking, currency, sovereign and sudden stop). The FVI is a comprehensive tool used by Fathom for client-specific research and consultancy projects. Refinitiv Datastream users can access a composite measure of the FVI on the Chartbook. Venezuela has frequently been flagged up by our Sovereign FVI reflecting increased uncertainty about its ability to

While investors in developed markets remain largely blessed with fair winds and a following sea, the same is clearly no longer true of emerging markets, where there are significant stresses appearing in many asset classes including equities, currencies and bonds. It looks like emerging markets investors will continue to face challenges, as they are being driven by the economic recovery of the United States, which in turn is delivering the unwinding of quantitative easing and the normalization of short term interest rates. These challenges are occurring as the way in which Emerging Markets investors operate is itself changing fundamentally. Travelling