South Africa main opposition party plans to form an alliance with other parties to gain a majority in next year’s elections, sidelining the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the radical Economic Freedom Fighters. The ANC has yet to clarify its stance should it lose its majority. In other news, recent figures show that South Africa’s manufacturing sector may experience a contraction in production during the first quarter. The manufacturing PMI fell to 48.1 in March, the weakest reading since the pandemic lows, and below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of 49.5. The breakdown suggests that the manufacturing sector is still affected by power outages.