Durban’s Business Confidence Index (DBCI) was launched at Investec uMhlanga last week.
The city said in a statement that it had developed the DBCI in collaboration with its corporate partner, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and academic partner, the Macroeconomics Research Unit in the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
The municipality said the praise the index received at the event bodes well for the city’s potential investors by ensuring they are provided with the most reliable and credible information.
“The DBCI measures the present mood or sentiment of businesses based on their experience of operating a business in Durban,” said municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela.
Programme manager from the municipality, Dr Nuthan Maharaj, said the index is important in being able to measure performance and the impact on the target audience. This will inform strategies aimed at improving the business environment.
“The DBCI is a proactive step towards providing the economic intelligence, understanding the mood and the experience of business through a globally trusted research tool required by investors to inform business decisions,” she said.
Maharaj said the index will enable the municipality and DCCI to increase its responsiveness to the business cohort within the city thereby mobilising investment and improving economic growth.
“The core benefits of the Business Confidence Index are to test business sentiment that will inform policymakers, improve the ease of doing business, and attract new investment to the city,” she said.
Chris Holdsworth, who is the chief investment strategist for Investec Wealth and Investment International, said there has been an increase in inflation globally and declining performance of some of the largest economies across the world including the US and Europe.
“South Africa’s economy has also declined however, at a much slower rate than others that have suffered the impact of the pandemic and more recently the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This has had a ripple effect on many countries causing food shortages and high fuel prices,” he said.
According to Holdsworth while South Africa is also feeling the impact of the global crises, economists are hopeful that it will also present opportunities for the South African economy in the next three years.
Mayisela said the DBCI tool, developed by economists at UKZN and funded by the municipality, reflects a decline in the local economy during the third quarter of 2022.
However, he said local economists remain optimistic that Durban will be able to recover faster when growth in the trading sector is enhanced sufficiently and investment flows into the Durban’s economy.
Maharaj said: “The municipality and its partners are committed to presenting quarterly business sentiment indices computed by the DBCI thereby improving the ease of doing business and helping build confidence in Durban’s economy.”