South Africa: Eskom Shutdowns Slash Growth to 6,5-Year Low

SA’s economic growth slumped to a 6,5-year low in the first quarter of this year, as power outages led to a sharp contraction in mining output and sharply curbed activity in the key manufacturing sector.

Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 2,1% in the first three months of the year — down from 5,3% in the previous quarter and below forecasts of 2,4%, data showed.
The figures provided the first clear evidence of the toll that a five-day power shutdown for SA’s mines in January and a spate of further outages for industry, business and commerce have had on the economy.

Mining output, which makes up 5,4% of GDP, dived 22,1% compared with the final quarter of last year — its sharpest fall in four decades.

Manufacturing output, which accounts for more than 16% of GDP, dipped 1%, but that was partly due to the technical affect of high factory output in the previous quarter.

Economists said the growth outlook for the year would depend on how well the power crisis was dealt with.

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