South Africa Risks Losing $32 Billion on Russia Stance, Stanlib Says
- Major trading partners may act if geopolitical tensions rise
- South Africa says it has non-aligned stance to war in Ukraine
A vendor counts out rand banknotes in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
South Africa stands to lose as much as $32.4 billion in export revenue, almost a 10th of its gross domestic product, should some of its main trading partners retaliate against its unwillingness to take a stance against Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Together, the EU and US account for 30.4% of total exports by South Africa,” compared with Russia’s 0.23%, or 0.07% of GDP, said Ndivhuho Netshitenzhe, an economist at Stanlib Asset Management (Pty) Ltd., an investment manager with more than 650 billion rand ($34.4 billion) in assets under management. This means, she said in a note, should geopolitical tensions escalate, and the West acts against South Africa, it could lose up to 612.7 billion rand in export revenue.