Boost for South Africa’s business confidence

A barometer of South African business confidence surged in November, but the organisation that compiles the data cautioned against reading too much into it, pointing out that some indicators of tangible economic activity were still lagging.

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Business Confidence Index jumped to 132.3 in November from 123.8 in October.

The business chamber releases the index every two months and said the increase was mainly driven by greater overseas tourist numbers.

Other drivers were mostly linked to “global economic and financial market assessments (rather) than local real economic activity,” it said in a statement.

The real economy refers to the production and use of physical goods and services, encompassing sectors like manufacturing and agriculture, rather than financial transactions.

“It (is) essential that real economic activity matches up with financial expediency for business confidence to steady up and be sustainable,” the business chamber said.

South Africa’s economic growth slowed in the third quarter, to 0.5% from the previous quarter’s 0.9% expansion.

For 2025 as a whole the National Treasury predicts modest growth of 1.2%.

• Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov.