Articles

Key View

• Battery energy storage systems will be the most competitive power storage type, supported by a rapidly developing competitive landscape and falling technology costs.
• We expect the price dynamics for lithium and nickel to remain favourable for battery storage developers, while copper will place upward price pressures as the demand from other

Key View: Consumer spending growth is due to remain strong in 2024, given an economic surge primarily driven by increased exports and higher investment, bolstered by more affordable credit and low inflation. A high level of household debt remains a risk to our consumer outlook if interest rates do not come down as forecasted in H2 2024, limiting

Key View 

• As the Russia-Ukraine war carries on, Kazakhstan’s multi-vector approach to foreign policy has proven to be tricky to manage. 
• While Kazakhstan continues to maintain friendly relations with Russia, its needs to diversify transport and infrastructure links away from Moscow has increased amid tightening economic sanctions. 
• Over the long term

Key View

• Colombia's medical devices market will grow at a single-digit growth rate in the medium term, limited by falling inflation.
• Strategic investments will enhance Colombia's medical device market, driving diagnostic imaging and consumables.
• Despite increasing medical device imports to Colombia in 2023, efforts to reduce import reliance will

Key View 

• We expect that the Central Bank of Egypt will hold its overnight deposit and lending rates at 27.25% and 28.25% respectively until end-2024 mostly due to receding FX risks and slowing inflation.
• We think that the CBE will start its monetary policy easing cycle in 2025 as inflation will trend further down, from 29.0% in 2024 to 11.8% in 2025

Key View

• We have revised down our 2024 growth projection for Zambia from 5.0% to 4.7%, on account of persistently low rainfall, which has led to widespread crop failures and the imposition of loadshedding by ZESCO, the state-owned power company.
• That said, weakness will be very much concentrated in H1 2024, with inflationary pressures expected to

Latest Development: As of March 2024, planned vehicle and tractor production capacity in Tanzania reached around 5,500 units and 8,000 units respectively over 2024-2028. This follows the Q423 announcement from Mahindra & Mahindra to assemble light vehicles locally and expand production capacity at Saturn's plant.

Key View:

• Slovenia will continue to grow as a regional hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Pharmaceutical trade in Slovenia will continue to outpace sales in the market.
• However, drugmakers in Slovenia will face headwinds due to geopolitical and economic risks.

Slovenia will continue to grow as a regional hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing. On

Key View

• Ethiopia’s banking sector is in good financial health, underpinned by a strong economic environment, which will support banks in the coming years.
• The findings from the latest stress tests suggest that the Ethiopian banking sector is generally stable, but there are vulnerabilities.
• The latest Financial Stability Report highlights a number of

Short-Term Outlook

The Omani market for personal care and effects is forecast to grow 3.8% y-o-y reaching OMR410mn (USD1.1bn) in 2024. This positive outlook is supported by a consistent upward trend in spending, indicating a resilient demand for personal care and effects products. In 2024, the per household expenditure on these items is expected to