Business confidence surges, but Sacci warns gains not broad-based

SOUTH Africa's business sentiment strengthened sharply in November, with the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) Business Confidence Index (BCI) rising from 121.1 to 132.3, according to data released on Thursday.

- YOGASHEN PILLAY

The improvement follows last week's RMB/BER Business Confidence Index, which rose by five points to 44 in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Sacci said November’s BCI was 14.2 index points higher than the same month in 2024 — the largest annual increase since June 2021, when Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

On a monthly basis, the index gained 2.7 points between September and October and a further 8.5 points in November, marking an 11.2-point surge over two months.

However, the chamber cautioned that the sharp rise did not signal a broad-based improvement in overall business conditions.

“Apart from a notable increase in overseas tourists, the increase can be ascribed to specific BCI sub-indices that were more affected by global economic and financial market assessments than local real economic activity,” Sacci said.