Everyone's eyes will be focused on South Africa next month when the 2010 World Cup football tournament kicks off with the first match between the host nation and Mexico in Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium. It will provide a much-needed boost to the country's economy, tourism industry, consumer confidence and, consequently, the retail banking sector.
Although South Africa avoided the worst of the global economic and financial crisis, it went into recession last year along with most of the rest of the world, with gross domestic product contracting by 1.8%. The prognosis for this year is better - a 2% to 2.5% growth is the consensus - and retail bankers are already benefiting from the upturn.
