A tippler's guide

摘要

For most people the letters bbc denote the British Broadcasting Corporation. For fans of Real Madrid, the world's richest football club, they stand for Bale, Benzema and Cristiano (Ronaldo), the team's goal-guzzling forward line. For investors in Africa's stockmarkets, bbc means banks, breweries and cement. The biggest companies listed on African exchanges are typically bbc firms. And in places where official statistics are scarce or unreliable, their trading figures are often a good guide to how much lending, spending and building is taking place in African economies. SABMiller is a bbc behemoth. It is one of the world's leading brewers, with chunky operations in 15 African countries and a presence in a further 20 markets on the continent through its alliance with Castel, a French company. Africa is now sab's fastest-growing market. Lager sales by volume rose by 6% in the year to the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with growth of just 1% in its operations worldwide. So its latest trading statement of January 21st is a useful barometer to the state of Africa's economies.