South Africa's new political certainty boosting rand: cenbank governor
By Respect Gwenzi, Jan 25, 2018
DAVOS- The appointment of a new leader of South Africa's ruling party has removed political uncertainty that contributed to the depreciation of the rand currency and has been welcomed by investors, the country's central bank governor said on Wednesday.
The new leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Cyril Ramaphosa, narrowly won the race to succeed President Jacob Zuma as party leader in December.
South Africa's rand currency has surged since Ramaphosa - the deputy president - won the contest. It steadied against the dollar early on Wednesday, holding at a two-and-a-half-year high. At 0645 GMT it traded at 12.0300 per dollar.
"The depreciation of the rand last year was overdone and it was overdone because there was so much political uncertainty," said South Africa Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago.
"High frequency indicators in South Africa do show that the South African economy is demonstrating a resurgence," he told Reuters speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting of business and political leaders in Davos.
"For a long time we had spelled out that the exchange rate is sensitive to the political uncertainty. The uncertainty is gone," he added.-Reuters

Top Stories
Innscor Makes History Again: First Zim Firm to Hit US$1 Billion Revenue Twice, Fuelled by Decades of Strategic Mastery
Innscor, Zimbabwe’s largest food processor, has etched its name in history as the first company in the nation to surpass US$1 billion in revenue twice, achieving this feat in 2014 with US$1.04 billion
Sep 26, 2025Public Service Pension Fund Bets on Real Estate to Shield Members from Market Volatility
The Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF), an arm of the Zimbabwean government that manages retirement savings and pension benefits for public sector employees, is significantly expanding its property po
Sep 25, 2025Africa Ranks as Epicentre of Child Poverty, Yet Possesses 30% of Global Rare Riches: An Analysis
The past decade has witnessed gradual but persistent progress in reducing extreme child poverty globally, yet children remain disproportionately affected by poverty compared to adults. Despite advanc
Sep 24, 2025