Britain’s possible departure from the European Union could shave about 0.1 percentage point off South Africa’s economic growth due to the nation’s strong trade ties with the U.K. and European Union, according to researchers from North-West University.
“With current growth in South Africa in 2016 expected to be close to zero, it is a loss in growth South Africa can ill-afford at this stage,” Raymond Parsons and Wilma Viviers, professors at the business school and trade research unit at the university in Potchefstroom, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, said in an e-mailed statement. “Slower economic growth as a result of potentially weaker trade and investment ties with traditional overseas markets means less job creation and yet higher unemployment.”
