Africa

AFRICA (African nations are set to see minimal or in some cases, negative GDP growth in the 1st Q of 2023):

Escalated oil, diesel, food, and energy costs are hindering future construction and economic growth in the vast majority of the 54 African nations.

Nigeria may be, at last, self-sufficient in supplying its own oil/energy needs. Daily production of oil is now slightly more than 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, making Nigeria one of the top 10 oil producers. This bodes well for future industrial, infrastructure, and power-related CAPEX projects in Nigeria.

The ongoing skyrocketing inflation/escalation that impacts food, energy, and commodities prices is a huge challenge to the 54 African nations. Look for construction costs to increase, increased unemployment, and less CAPEX investment in the next 6 to 12 months:

Africa was a big importer of wheat and barley from Ukraine and Russia, with these products currently unavailable because of the ongoing war, prices have already started to rise, experts are indicating that there will be a serious food shortage that will cause problems for many African nations. 

South Africa is experiencing between 7% and 8% escalation in construction materials. Egypt is seeing price hikes in the 15% to 17%, and Nigeria’s construction materials are set to increase by 17% to 20% from a year ago.

The African economies and construction sector could be severely impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine. It is difficult to forecast the short-term and long-term impact on the 54 African countries.