Mmegi

What Sefalana’s results tell us about the economy

Feeling the pinch: Sefalana is noting the effects of the economic contraction on its customers
Feeling the pinch: Sefalana is noting the effects of the economic contraction on its customers

The country’s largest grocer by revenue and balance sheet has recorded an erosion in profit margins, driven primarily by a sharp slowdown in consumer spending and mounting household pressures. The trend points to deeper, structural weaknesses in the economy, with potential spillover effects across multiple sectors, writes TIMOTHY LEWANIKA

Beneath all the economic jargon on cash crunches, soft GDP figures and liquidity crunches are consumers bearing the brunt at the margins of society as disposable incomes continue to shrink leaving families struggling to make ends meet.

On one frontier, Sefalana latest results show how households are facing increasing pressures particularly from food inflation coupled with low disposable incomes that face erosion from growing inflation.

Editor's Comment
Batswana need to do better to stop FMD

It is a clear signal that the government’s purse is empty and that our own behaviour has left veterinary officials fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. We have been here before. During COVID-19, many of us thought we knew better. We ignored simple rules, we carried on as if the danger was someone else’s problem, and the virus took lives and left our economy on its knees. We are still broke from that experience. Yet now, with FMD...

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