As Nigeria and South Africa are expected to hold Elections in February and May respectively, PricewaterCoopers predicts low economic growth rate in these economies.

According to the report titled: Predictions for 2019: Coming off the boil, “On going governance problems mean that we project growth in both countries in 2019 to be below their long-term average, at 2.5 per cent in Nigeria and 1.6 per cent in South Africa.”

Meanwhile at the global level, it also shows that global growth will slow. “The global economy enjoyed a mini-boom between the end of 2016 and early 2018, when growth picked up in most major economies. This phase is now over, and in 2019 we expect the G7 economies to return to growth rates close to their long-run averages.”

“In the US, the boost from fiscal stimulus is likely to fade, higher interest rates may dampen consumer spending and a strong dollar could continue to drag on net exports. We expect growth to moderate from an estimated 2.8% in 2018 to around 2.3% in 2019.”

“In the Eurozone uncertainty relating to global trade tensions and Brexit will take a toll, while the European Central Bank is likely to offer less support to growth as its quantitative easing policy ends. Growth in China is also expected to slow relative to 2018.”

“Although the government will try to ensure that the slowdown is minimal, the impact of US tariffs and the need to control debt levels are likely to result in at least a modest deceleration in growth in 2019.

Emerging market currencies could come under periodic pressure from a strong US dollar, but this effect is likely to lessen later in the year, when we believe it will become more evident that the US economy is slowing.”