Centre for Risk Analysis

What Centre for Risk Analysis does

Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) is a privately held South African political and economic risk intelligence firm that has accumulated over 60 years of proprietary research on South Africa's political economy. It produces a recurring publication portfolio that includes weekly Risk Alerts, ad hoc Client Notes, the annual Socio-Economic Survey of South Africa, Macro Review, Fast Stats fact sheets, and in-depth Strategic Intelligence reports, together with an ancillary utility tool — the Joburg Tariff Calculator. CRA's primary customers are enterprise boards and executives, financial services firms (including one of South Africa's biggest insurers), academic and research institutions, government bodies, and trade associations operating in or exposed to South Africa.

The company's commercial model is anchored on a two-tier subscription architecture: a self-serve Risk Alert subscription priced at R299 per month (excluding VAT), and a quote-based Premium Membership that bundles the full research library with board briefings, strategic planning sessions, Fast Stats, Client Notes, and direct analyst access through a Client Queries service. Distribution combines direct consultative enterprise sales for Premium Membership with earned-media amplification across Business Day, Daily Maverick, News24, YouTube (145+ videos), and podcast appearances (ChaiFM, Power FM, ENCA) to drive top-of-funnel awareness and subscription conversion. The underlying "technology" is the expert analytical capability of a small named team — Executive Director Chris Hattingh, COO David Ansara, and Director Frans Cronje — working from a 60-year longitudinal dataset rather than a software platform; CRA does not have a mobile app, public API, or disclosed third-party technology stack.

CRA operates from Johannesburg, South Africa, under South African governing law, and is independently owned with no disclosed parent, investor, funding events, or M&A activity in the input data. Headcount is in the 11–50 range, consistent with a boutique specialist advisory selling tailored intelligence and briefing services to a relatively concentrated enterprise subscriber base.

Name

Centre for Risk Analysis

Legal name

Centre for Risk Analysis

Website

https://cra-sa.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CRA provides subscription-based political and economic risk intelligence on South Africa, including weekly Risk Alerts, an annual Socio-Economic Survey, Macro Reviews, and direct analyst access for enterprise boards, financial firms, and academic institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Melville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Risk Alert Subscription: Weekly Risk Alert subscription providing regular analysis of South African and global political/economic developments. Priced at R299 per month excluding VAT, this is a recurring subscription revenue stream.
2. Premium Membership: Comprehensive membership including all Risk Alert benefits plus comprehensive surveys, Fast Stats, Client Notes, strategic reports, board briefings, and direct analyst access. Pricing is quote-based/custom through direct sales consultation.
3. Board Briefings and Strategic Planning Sessions: CRA analysts work directly with organizations through board briefings and strategic planning sessions to help understand how global and local developments affect their specific needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) is a South African risk advisory that sells political and economic risk intelligence through subscription publications and bespoke advisory services. Its core products are weekly Risk Alerts, ad hoc Client Notes, the annual Socio-Economic Survey of South Africa, Macro Reviews, Fast Stats, and Strategic Intelligence reports, delivered via a self-serve Risk Alert subscription (R299/month) and a Premium Membership sold through consultative enterprise sales. CRA supplements these with Client Queries analyst access and board briefings / strategic planning sessions tailored to organisational decision-makers.

Product overview

Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) offers a portfolio of political and economic risk intelligence products and subscription services. The core offering consists of recurring publication products including Risk Alert (weekly analysis), Client Notes (ad hoc insights), Socio-Economic Survey (annual comprehensive report), Fast Stats (fact sheets), Macro Review (economic analysis), and Strategic Intelligence (in-depth reports). CRA provides these through two subscription tiers: Risk Alert Subscription (R299/month) for weekly alerts, and Premium Membership offering comprehensive access to all publications plus direct analyst access and board briefings. Additional tools include the Joburg Tariff Calculator.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Risk Alert Subscription Entry-level monthly subscription priced at R299 per month excluding VAT that delivers weekly Risk Alerts analysing South African and global political and economic developments, with clear explanations of what is changing and why it matters. Marketed as an affordable self-serve product for business leaders who need timely analysis without information overload.
• Premium Membership Comprehensive annual subscription sold through consultative direct sales that bundles all Risk Alert benefits with the Socio-Economic Survey, Fast Stats, Client Notes, occasional Strategic Intelligence reports, board and planning briefings, and direct access to CRA analysts via the Client Queries service. Pricing is quote-based and obtained through direct sales conversation.
• Board Briefings and Strategic Planning Sessions Bespoke advisory engagement in which CRA analysts work directly with client organisations through board briefings and strategic planning sessions to translate global and local political and economic developments into implications for the client's specific business needs. Sold as a professional-services engagement alongside Premium Membership.
• Client Queries Service Direct-access service included with Premium Membership that gives clients the ability to pose specific questions to CRA analysts and receive tailored expert insight on political or economic developments or data points, rather than relying solely on published reports.
• Joburg Tariff Calculator Standalone calculator tool hosted on the CRA website that allows users to determine Johannesburg municipal tariffs and trade-related costs in the South African context.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• S-RM Intelligence and Risk Consulting: Independent corporate intelligence and political risk consultancy serving clients across emerging and developed markets. Comparable to CRA's subscription-based intelligence model and bespoke advisory work, with comparable firm size and specialisation.
• Africa Risk Consulting: South Africa-based advisory providing political and security risk analysis, scenario planning, and strategic intelligence across the African continent. Closely comparable niche peer with overlapping customer segments and analytical offerings.
• Pangea-Risk: Africa-focused political and security risk advisory providing analysis and forecasting across African markets. Most direct niche competitor to CRA's South African political-economy intelligence offering, with similar specialisation and target client profile.

Broad incumbents

• Eurasia Group: Leading global political risk research and advisory firm providing analysis of geopolitical risks and policy developments. Comparable to CRA in delivering political-economy intelligence to enterprise clients, though with global rather than South Africa-specific focus.
• Kroll: Global risk consultancy providing intelligence, investigations, security, and advisory services to corporations and governments. Comparable to CRA's advisory services though much broader in scope and larger in scale.
• Control Risks: Global political and security risk advisory serving multinational corporations and governments with intelligence and consulting services. Directly comparable to CRA's political-economic risk intelligence model but operates at much greater scale and broader geographic scope.
• Oxford Economics: Global forecasting and quantitative economic research firm producing macro outlooks, country reports, and scenario analysis. Comparable to CRA's Macro Review and Strategic Intelligence products, with global coverage and subscription-based intelligence delivery.
• Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU): Provides country-level economic and political forecasts, risk assessments, and strategic analysis across nearly 200 countries. Closely comparable to CRA's annual country survey, macro review, and risk alert products, but at far broader international scale.
• Verisk Maplecroft: Provides political, economic, social, and environmental risk indices and analytics for multinational corporations. Directly comparable to CRA's data-driven political-economic risk research, with a stronger emphasis on quantitative indices and global coverage.
• Fitch Solutions (BMI Research): Delivers country risk intelligence, macroeconomic forecasts, and political risk analysis to corporates and financial institutions. Comparable to CRA's Macro Review and Strategic Intelligence reports, with deeper global coverage and proprietary risk indices.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/centre_risk
• Facebookfacebook.com/CentreForRiskAnalysis
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centre-for-risk-analysis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centre for Risk Analysis