Investors update: South Africa’s unemployment drops

South Africa’s unemployment drops for 4th straight quarter

Highlights

• South Africa’s official unemployment rate fell for the fourth consecutive quarter in October-December, moving further away from a record high struck during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Unemployment fell to 32.7% in the final three months of 2022 from 32.9% in the July-September period, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.
• But the total number of unemployed people edged up to 7.753 million people in October-December from 7.725 million in the previous three months.

Source: CNBC Africa

Our Takeaway

South Africa is the continent’s most industrialized economy but has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world amid an economic decline triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and crippling power cuts. The unemployment figures reflect a full year of sustained growth in the number of jobs created, offering some hope and respite for the embattled country. To prevent the outcome from being shortlived, however, the government needs to find lasting solutions to power cuts, which continue to discourage investment and stifle economic growth.

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Dangote Cement Plc delivers $828m profit in 2022

Highlights

• Nigeria-based Dangote Cement Plc has reported a profit of N382 billion ($828 million) for the year 2022, according to the company’s financial report.
• The 2022 profit represents a 4.90% improvement from the N364.44 billion which the cement maker reported in the previous year.
• Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement maker by volume and one of the most valued companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange, worth over N1 trillion.

Source: Nairametrics

Our Takeaway

The NGX closed positive Friday—with the All Share Index (ASI) rising 0.69%—amidst buy interests and sell-offs as bulls dominated proceedings, driving up the broad market. There had been expectations that the ongoing general elections would dampen confidence in the Nigerian stock market but that hasn’t been the case so far. The equities market has defied election jittery thanks to the anticipated 2022 full-year dividend payout, per analysts, with hopes that the outcome of the elections will not throw the nation into a crisis.

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Guardrisk launches $2.8m initiative to back insurtech startups

Highlights

• South African cell captive insurance provider Guardrisk plans to back insurtech startups via its $2.8 million Launchpad initiative.
• Through Launchpad, Guardrisk intends to partner with VC investors to co-invest in and support entrepreneurs in predominantly insurtech scale-ups.
• The initiative will also provide funding and non-financial support for entrepreneurs, such as finding the best and most effective distribution channels to match individual venture expertise.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway
The insurance sector in Africa is ripe for digital disruption. As of 2018, the insurance penetration rate stood at a meager 1.12% or 3% with South Africa, highlighting an ever-growing need for innovative solutions to address the significant lack of coverage on the continent. Many startups have emerged in recent years to address this, riding on the increasing adoption of mobile devices, but funding remains few and far between. As the continent plays catch-up in the global insurance space, initiatives like Launchpad are crucial to fan the flames of innovation.