Market Commentary | The week that was

Last week saw the African Mining Indaba kick-off in Cape Town. The theme was ‘Evolution of African Mining: Investing in the Energy Transition, ESG, and the Economies’, looking to the future with hard-hitting streams that bring change to the industry.

The event was well attended as said by organisers: “We also welcomed three Heads of State and one Prime Minister: The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi; the newly elected President of the Republic of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema; and the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, who all shared their visions for the future directly with the Mining Indaba community,”

On the geopolitical front: On 15 May 2022, Finland and Sweden applied to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for membership. The announcements, first made by Finland and then by Sweden, were stunning reversals of their traditional and long-standing policies of military non-alignment and can be regarded as a result of Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. Russia sees NATO as a security threat and has warned of "consequences".

Looking at the week ahead: The main focus will be on Thursday when the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its interest rate decision (a 50 basis point hike is expected).