Africa Intelligence Brief — Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Africa Intelligence Brief — Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Africa Intelligence Brief for Tuesday: South Africa's economy grew a sixth straight quarter and beat forecasts, Kenya's central bank weighs its first rate rise in years, and an oil shock is pulling the continent's interest-rate setters in opposite directions.

Slowdown in GDP growth in coming quarters expected due to Middle East war effects - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.

Economic growth is expected to decline in the coming months as the effects of the conflict in the Middle East has had on oil prices and its impact on inflation becomes more pronounced. This after the latest GDP data released by Statistics South Africa showed that the economy grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to 0.4 percent in the previous quarter. The data indicates that nine out of 10 sectors tracked by Stats SA rec…

The sector suppressing South Africa's fragile economic recovery

South Africa’s economy expanded by a modest 0.5% in the first quarter of 2026, but the national growth was severely hamstrung by a single, critical industry that shrank and lost R29 billion in nominal value. While nine of the 10 major industries measured by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) posted positive growth between January and March, the manufacturing sector proved to be the country’s sole economic drag. Manufacturing contracted by 0.8% q…