THE South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) says its business confidence index (BCI) ebbed slightly in August to 100.1 points from 101 in July, hampered mainly by high oil prices. Sacob called for a renewed focus on exports, blaming the economy’s sluggish performance on poor domestic demand. South Africa’s economy slowed sharply in the first quarter, mainly in response to the impact of floods on agriculture. Growth accelerated to 1.6% in the second quarter, but still falls well short of levels needed to boost jobless levels running at more than 25%. It also looks set to significantly undershoot the government’s forecasts of average annual three percent growth over each of the coming three years. – Reuters