South Africa might take three years to recover from pandemic, forecast predicts

JOHANNESBURG – NKC African Economist said yesterday that its forecast showed it could take up to three years for the South African economy to recover to the levels it was in before the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

NKC’s senior economist Pieter Du Preez said South Africa was among Africa’s big three economies that would take significant knocks from the pandemic.

Du Preez said the recovery for these economies, including Nigeria and Egypt, would be gradual.

“South Africa could contract 7.2 percent this year, due to fall in consumption, investment and manufacturing,” Du Preez said.

“We are expecting South Africa to return to pre-Covid-19 only in 2023. In effect, SA is losing three years of economic growth due to Covid-19.”