Business confidence lifts on election sentiment
The absence of load-shedding lifted confidence in April to the highest level since January — and a solid win for Ramaphosa may see it stay up
Just a day before South Africans head to the polls to vote in the general election, a report showed that business confidence picked up on promises of economic growth and job creation. The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Sacci's) business confidence index (BCI) rose to 93.7 in April from a seven-month low of 91.8 in March. This is the highest level since January. The index, among other things, is generally regarded as a dip-stick of business sentiment in the country. “The common theme of election manifesto policies among the parties to drive economic growth and job creation seems to resonate well with the markets, [and] belief that there is adequate seriousness by parties and by the government to adopt that help fight corruption and drive an economic growth agenda,” Sacci said in a statement on Tuesday. The reprieve from power cuts as Eskom suspended load-shedding also bolstered business confidence. Despite this, the chamber warned: “The once-off nature of political campaign a...
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