Goldman says South African market ‘tough’ before election
South African investors are holding off on big moves before the vote next month, Goldman Sachs Group said, as the elections shape up to be the most pivotal in 30 years.
Assuming the vote is trouble-free, “we could see quite a significant pickup in foreign interest in both equities and debt,” said Simon Denny, chief executive officer for South Africa at Goldman. Interest-rate cuts and progress tackling the nation’s rolling power outages will also be key to attracting more foreign capital, he said.
Goldman has significantly expanded its operations in South Africa, tripling headcount over the past five years in its Johannesburg offices, from where it services the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. The US bank is betting on growth as energy constraints ease by the end of the year and a smooth outcome in the nation’s most-contested general election since 1994.
“The market remains tough,” Denny said. “But we have capital on the ground and everything in place to continue to grow our businesses.”
Polls indicate the ruling African National Congress could lose its majority and potentially be forced into a coalition government.
Elsewhere in the region, governments are looking past persistent inflation, high interest rates and dollar strength as debt sales resume after a two-year hiatus. Recent offerings in Ivory Coast, Benin and Kenya were over-subscribed, while Nigeria and Angola have bonds coming due in 2025, Denny said.
There’s “more activity to come,” Denny said. “Investor reception has been good.”
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation