JOHANNESBURG – South Africa and its sub-Saharan African neighbours are vulnerable to the risk of a global recession in the short-term, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) report on Regional Risks, Doing Business Report of 2019.
The report – overseen by Mirek Dušek, the deputy head for regional and geopolitical affairs, and Emilio Granados Franco, the head of global risks and the geopolitical agenda – said South Africa faced at least five risk categories in common with its regional neighbours: unemployment or underemployment; failure of national governance; failure of critical infrastructure; profound social instability; and energy price shock.
“The signals of a global economic recession in the short term are strong and the impact that such a shock would have on current government policies is worrying the global business community.
“It is also a major cause for concern that stakeholders worldwide might not be able to come together, if co-ordination has not begun already, to craft a global response to such a risk,” the report noted.
The report maps the risks landscape from a regional perspective to help stakeholders to hedge against the probability of lack of global cohesion.