Global tensions rise, but South Africa could still attract investor interest

Stephen Grootes speaks to Hannes van den Berg about Ninety One’s view that heightened global uncertainty and war driven market volatility are opening up selective investment opportunities in South Africa, despite ongoing economic and geopolitical risks.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

At the start of 2026, the global economy was on a strong run, and things were looking optimistic for South Africa too.

A strong gold price, lower oil costs, and a stable rand helped keep inflation down, while improvements in electricity, ports and rail were expected to support growth.

But that optimism has been shaken by rising conflict in the Middle East.

Fears of higher oil prices could lead to higher fuel and food costs, which in turn may force central banks to delay cutting interest rates, or even raise them.

For investors, the longer the conflict continues, the greater the economic damage.

However, investment firm Ninety One believes South Africa could still stand out.

Thanks to its location and improving fundamentals, the country may attract investor interest, especially if global markets don’t fully retreat from risk.

Speaking to Stephen Groote on The Money Show, Hannes van den Berg, co-head of SA Equity & Multi-Asset within the 4Factor team at Ninety One says while the global outlook has become more uncertain, there are still opportunities, particularly for investors looking at emerging markets like South Africa.

"In the last five years we've gone through four of these kinds of events. It was Covid, then Russia-Ukraine. Then Liberation Day with the tariffs and now there's conflict in the Middle East. In each of these previous occasions, if you sat back and stuck to your process, and your fundamentals and what you believe will deliver investment ideas, you had an opportunity to position yourself in a volatile world."

- Hannes van den Berg, co-head of SA Equity & Multi-Asset - Ninety One 

"You need to use this opportunity where good stocks get mispriced and to position yourself accordingly."

- Hannes van den Berg, co-head of SA Equity & Multi-Asset - Ninety One 

"I still think we're going to have a decent double-digit year. Given everything that's happened, you still look at the market after four months or three and a half months in, we're 4% up. I would've taken that. So I think fundamentals will prevail. This too shall pass."

- Hannes van den Berg, co-head of SA Equity & Multi-Asset - Ninety One

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.