Economic and Customer Trends for 2021

In the words of Charles Dickens these are “the best of times and the worst of times” – the financial world is suffering severe labour pains but is also pregnant with possibilities. It appears that the East African business world is breaking early for Christmas but I am sure that all of us are desperately trying to predict the future for both our local economies and the world in general. Here in Uganda we are seeing a significant increase in Covid-19 cases which is, of course, in no way linked to the frantic and socially un-distanced political campaigns currently taking place!! Frankly nothing is certain except considerable uncertainty.  So if there aren´t any certainties then what are the likely economic and consumer trends for 2021?  Economic Trends   It is inarguable that a world economy that was already approaching its peak pre-Covid-19 period has moved rapidly into recession. The effects of recession have so far been mitigated by an unprecedented degree of quantitative easing. This means that the full financial horror of the pandemic will not be felt until Q1/Q2 of the New Year. My personal opinion is that emerging economies in East Africa will recover more quickly than the established economies in the