Justice Matarutse, senior economist at Spatial Econ, highlights the ongoing challenges faced by KwaZulu-Natal's manufacturing sector, emphasising the need for strategic growth and diversification to overcome the lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
KwaZulu-Natal’s manufacturing recovery remains fragile as eThekwini’s economy struggles to regain its pre-Covid footing, with City manufacturing businesses employing fewer workers on average and business confidence slipping back into negative territory.
Successive challenges that range from the Covid-19 lockdown, the July 2021 unrest and the 2022 floods, followed by persistent electricity, water, and logistics problems, are still taking its toll on businesses in the province.
Data presented yesterday by Justice Matarutse, senior economist at Spatial Econ, showed manufacturing confidence declined by 7% quarter on quarter, although it remained 13.87% higher than a year earlier.
Matarutse, speaking at a Nedbank Business and Commercial Banking manufacturing and business breakfast at Mount Edgecombe Country Club, said Spatial Econ’s analysis showed a loss of momentum since the post-lockdown rebound.
