2020 African Outlook and Review

20 February 2020
Category: Business | Funds

Last week Scipion’s analysts released our 2020 African Outlook and Review, covering the key economic and political themes that will be faced by the continent in the forthcoming year. A short excerpt of the executive summary is below:

Investors and economic observers alike will be familiar with the latest set of challenges to face the global economy. The last three decades have witnessed an expansion of world trade, linked to open borders and decreasing tariffs. However the last two years have seen a reversion to protectionism, encapsulated most obviously by the US-China trade war.

These tensions will be nowhere more evident than in Africa in 2020. On the one hand, the rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in July 2020 represents a significant step towards the liberalisation of the continent’s markets. On the other, Nigeria’s recent border closures are a reminder that governments will continue to protect their industries and the prices of staple goods ahead of relations with their neighbours. The creation of AfCFTA thus marks an important development, but the real test will come in its implementation.

If you would like to be sent a copy of this document, please contact ir@scipion-capital.com.