| Corporate South Africa is rapidly changing its priorities and forecasts as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on the local economy. Sasol has had to fast track capital raising plans and may ask shareholders to cough up as it prepares to ride out a lower-for-longer oil price. Combined with a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, it couldn't have come at a worse time for Sasol due to the debt it has built up to complete its Lake Charles Chemicals Project in the US. Sun International is also starting to feel the pain after local regulators called for it to close down its South American casinos to help contain the spread of the virus. Investment holding company Remgro says Covid-19 will be felt across its wide portfolio of investments. Cell phone companies Vodacom and MTN may benefit as more South Africans rely on their services to work from home, but they're not certain at this stage. Still, they are making sure that they can handle the increased traffic. In a compelling analysis of the tsunami that has engulfed South African and other world markets, Ingham Analytics points out that neither US credit nor US equity markets were showing signs of distress over the past year and through to the third week of February. "In the darkness of tumult a possible chink of light" it says the speed of this contagion has been dramatic. What now? Click here for another must-read analysis by Ingham Analytics. Meanwhile, Andrew Kinsey, one of the top traders and financial markets educationalists in South Africa, has joined forces with Ingham Analytics and will be collaborating closely to build out the research and teaching offering. This is particularly timely in view of the traumatic sell-off in world markets. I hope you are hanging in there. Hopefully the Reserve Bank will provide some relief at the end of its interest-rate meeting tomorrow. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
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