Lerato Mahlangu

Township retail is not 'informal' — it's under-measured. Spaza density in SA metros runs ~1 outlet per 250 residents, well above the formal grocery ratio. Distribution, not demand, is the constraint. → /township-economy

Spend basket check: food, airtime and transport still absorb the majority of township household spend. Discretionary categories only move when transport cost falls — that's the elasticity most brands miss. → /township-economy

Payments mix is the leading indicator. Where cash share drops below ~60% of township transactions, credit and insurance attach rates step up within four quarters. Watch the mix, not the volume. → /township-economy

Stokvel pools remain one of the continent's largest unbanked capital stacks. Formalising even a slice of it changes the deposit base — and the risk model — for any bank serious about the segment. → /township-economy

Forecast view is live: Bear / Base / Bull for SA township GMV to 2030. The gap between scenarios is driven almost entirely by digital payments penetration and electricity reliability. → /township-economy

Infrastructure gates everything. Electricity and water access rates explain more variance in township retail growth than income does. Fix the grid, the basket follows. → /township-economy

Youth structure matters: NEET rates across our five tracked markets sit far above headline unemployment. Any township growth model that ignores the NEET cohort is modelling the wrong consumer. → /township-economy

Cross-market read: Kenya's township-equivalent payments mix is roughly a decade ahead of SA's on digital share, but behind on retail formalisation. Different problems, opposite sequencing. → /township-economy

Every metric on the township hub now carries a confidence badge — sourced, estimated, or illustrative. If we can't cite it, we say so. → /township-economy

New 30-second explainer on the township economy hub: market size, forecasts, infrastructure. Fastest way to brief an exec on the segment. → /township-economy

Operators keep asking for the same number: revenue per square metre in township formats. The honest answer is it varies 3x by transport node proximity — location beats format every time. → /township-economy

The township opportunity isn't a discount play. It's a working-capital and last-mile play. Whoever solves restocking economics owns the basket. → /township-economy