# Southern Africa FX Rates — Official Bank Exchange Rates API (`malmon/southern-africa-fx-rates`) Actor Official daily FX rates from 5 Southern African central banks — ZAR, ZMW, BWP, NAD and MZN. NAD is pegged 1:1 to ZAR via the Common Monetary Area — derived rates flagged transparently. Every record source-attributed. - **URL**: https://apify.com/malmon/southern-africa-fx-rates.md - **Developed by:** [Simon M](https://apify.com/malmon) (community) - **Categories:** Agents, Developer tools, News - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.10 / full market snapshot This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Southern African FX Rates — Daily Central Bank Exchange Rates Official USD exchange rates published daily by the South African Reserve Bank, extended to Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini via their fixed 1:1 ZAR pegs — normalised into one consistent schema across all 4 countries. Unlike the World Bank, IMF, or ECB datasets already on Apify — which publish African macro data **annually with a 6–12 month lag** — this actor pulls **fresh, daily** rates straight from SARB's published data API, with **historical depth back to 1990**. > Part of a regional family: **West African FX Rates** · **East African FX Rates** · **Southern African FX Rates** (this actor) · North African actor in the same normalised schema. --- ### Modes | Mode | What you get | When to use it | |---|---|---| | `usd-core` *(default)* | One USD rate per country, latest available date | Daily monitoring, dashboards, FX baskets | | `all-currencies` | USD, GBP, EUR, and JPY rates per country, latest date | Multi-currency exposure, regional FX desks | | `historical` | USD–GBP–EUR–JPY rates per country, every trading day in a date range | Backtesting, time-series analysis, academic research | --- ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `mode` | string | `usd-core` | See modes table above. | | `countries` | array | all 4 | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes to include. `ZA` South Africa, `NA` Namibia, `LS` Lesotho, `SZ` Eswatini. | | `dateFrom` | string | — | Start date (`YYYY-MM-DD`). Required in `historical` mode. Available back to 1990-01-02. | | `dateTo` | string | — | End date (`YYYY-MM-DD`). Required in `historical` mode. | | `maxItems` | integer | 5000 | Hard cap on output rows. | --- ### Output One record per country per run (in `usd-core`), per country-currency (in `all-currencies`), or per country-currency-day (in `historical`). **South Africa (SARB) example:** ```json { "id": "ZA:USD:2026-06-03:interbank", "country": "ZA", "centralBank": "SARB", "baseCurrency": "USD", "quoteCurrency": "ZAR", "pair": "USD/ZAR", "date": "2026-06-03", "buying": null, "selling": null, "mid": 16.2974, "midMethod": "published", "inverseMid": 0.06136, "rateType": "interbank", "warnings": [], "source": { "name": "South African Reserve Bank", "url": "https://custom.resbank.co.za/SarbWebApi/WebIndicators/HomePageRates", "retrievedAt": "2026-06-03T10:45:00.000Z", "asOfDate": "2026-06-03", "licenseNote": "Factual exchange rate data reproduced from the SARB public website (resbank.co.za). No redistribution prohibition found; general © footer only." } } ```` Read it as: **1 USD = 16.30 ZAR** (weighted average of South African bank rates at ~10:30 am). **Namibia (NAD — ZAR-pegged) example:** ```json { "id": "NA:USD:2026-06-03:derived", "country": "NA", "centralBank": "BoN", "baseCurrency": "USD", "quoteCurrency": "NAD", "pair": "USD/NAD", "date": "2026-06-03", "buying": null, "selling": null, "mid": 16.2974, "midMethod": "published", "inverseMid": 0.06136, "rateType": "derived", "warnings": [], "source": { "name": "Bank of Namibia (ZAR peg, derived from SARB)", "url": "https://www.bon.com.na/", "retrievedAt": "2026-06-03T10:45:00.000Z", "asOfDate": "2026-06-03", "licenseNote": "NAD is pegged 1:1 to ZAR under the Common Monetary Area (CMA) agreement. Rates are derived from SARB's published interbank ZAR rates.", "derivationNote": "USD/NAD = SARB USD/ZAR. The CMA treaty pegs NAD to ZAR at 1:1 exactly; derivation is exact, not estimated." } } ``` #### Field reference | Field | Meaning | |---|---| | `country` / `centralBank` | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code + issuing bank abbreviation | | `baseCurrency` / `quoteCurrency` / `pair` | ISO 4217 codes. `pair` = `base/quote`. Read as: "price of 1 `baseCurrency` in `quoteCurrency`." | | `date` | The rate's as-of date (ISO 8601, `YYYY-MM-DD`) | | `buying` / `selling` / `mid` | SARB publishes only a weighted mid rate — no bid/ask spread. `buying` and `selling` are always `null` for all countries in this actor; use `mid`. | | `midMethod` | How the mid was obtained: `published` (SARB's own figure) | | `inverseMid` | `1/mid` — units of base per 1 quote (e.g. ZAR per USD) | | `rateType` | `interbank` (ZA — SARB weighted average of bank transactions), `derived` (NA/LS/SZ — see below) | | `warnings` | Data-quality flags, e.g. `mid_out_of_range`, `non_positive_rate` | | `id` | Deterministic natural key (`country:baseCurrency:date:rateType`) — safe to use for upsert/dedup | | `source` | Full attribution and provenance block: bank name, URL, retrieval timestamp, as-of date, licence note | *** ### Coverage and source notes | Country | Bank | Rate type | buying / selling | Historical depth | |---|---|---|---|---| | South Africa (ZA) | South African Reserve Bank (SARB) | `interbank` — weighted average of bank daily rates at ~10:30 am | null (SARB does not publish bid/ask) | Back to 1990-01-02 | | Namibia (NA) | Bank of Namibia (BoN) | `derived` — see note | null (same as ZAR) | Same as SARB (back to 1990) | | Lesotho (LS) | Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) | `derived` — see note | null (same as ZAR) | Same as SARB (back to 1990) | | Eswatini (SZ) | Central Bank of Eswatini (CBS) | `derived` — see note | null (same as ZAR) | Same as SARB (back to 1990) | **Why are Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini rows derived?** All three currencies are **permanently pegged 1:1 to the South African Rand** under the **Common Monetary Area (CMA)** — a monetary union between South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini. Each country issues its own currency (NAD, LSL, SZL) but it circulates at par with ZAR and is freely convertible at 1:1. The derivation is exact and requires no additional HTTP calls: `USD/NAD = SARB USD/ZAR`, `USD/LSL = SARB USD/ZAR`, `USD/SZL = SARB USD/ZAR`. This applies equally to the GBP, EUR, and JPY rates. Each row carries `rateType: "derived"` and a `derivationNote` stating the legal basis. **SARB currencies published:** USD, GBP, EUR, and JPY — the 4 bilateral ZAR rates SARB publishes via its data API. In `usd-core` mode only the USD row is returned; `all-currencies` and `historical` return all 4 per country. **Delayed data.** The SARB rate is the weighted average of South African commercial bank transactions at approximately 10:30 am local time. It is published during the trading day and does not reflect intraday moves. *** ### Cost Pay-per-event pricing: | Mode | Charge | Typical cost | |---|---|---| | `usd-core` | One `fx-snapshot` per run | $0.10 per run | | `all-currencies` | One `fx-country-day` per unique (currency, country, date) row | $0.015 per row | | `historical` | One `fx-country-day` per unique (currency, country, date) row | $0.015 per country-currency-day | **Examples:** - Daily `usd-core` for all 4 countries: **$0.10/day** (~$2.20/month) - 1 year of `historical` for South Africa, USD only: ~252 trading days → **~$3.78** - 1 year of `historical` for all 4 countries, all 4 currencies: ~252 × 4 × 4 = ~4,032 events → **~$60** - Full 35-year USD/ZAR history (1990–2025): ~9,000 trading days → **~$135** *** ### Legality & disclaimers **Is the data real-time?** No — it is delayed. The SARB rate is published once per trading day at approximately 10:30 am South African time. **Legal basis.** The SARB website carries only a general "© Copyright" footer with no contractual restriction on reusing the published rate figures. Official exchange rates are **factual data** — copyright protects creative expression, not facts. Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini rates are derived from the 1:1 ZAR peg established by the Common Monetary Area treaty; no separate data source is scraped. Every output record carries the issuing institution's name, URL, and a licence note. **Why no buying / selling?** SARB publishes a single weighted mid rate, not a bid/ask spread. This reflects how SARB aggregates interbank transaction data rather than setting its own bid/ask. The three pegged currencies inherit the same null bid/ask. **Resilience.** All four sources share SARB's single HTTP call via an internal cache. If SARB is unreachable, the run fails gracefully and logs the error; partial results are never silently returned. **Accuracy.** Values are reproduced as published. Use `asOfDate` and `retrievedAt` to track versions. **Issues / feedback:** use the Issues tab on the actor page. *This is not legal or financial advice. Verify rates against the issuing central bank before acting on them.* # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): usd-core: one comparable USD rate per country (latest). all-currencies: all currencies SARB publishes (USD, GBP, EUR, JPY) for each country. historical: a time series over a date range — set Date from / Date to below. ## `countries` (type: `array`): Which countries to include (ISO 3166 alpha-2). ZA = South Africa (SARB), NA = Namibia (BoN/ZAR peg), LS = Lesotho (CBL/ZAR peg), SZ = Eswatini (CBS/ZAR peg). ## `dateFrom` (type: `string`): Start date (YYYY-MM-DD). Required in historical mode. SARB and pegged currencies available back to 1990-01-02. ## `dateTo` (type: `string`): End date (YYYY-MM-DD). Required in historical mode. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Hard cap on output records. Mainly relevant in all-currencies and historical modes. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "usd-core", "countries": [ "ZA", "NA", "LS", "SZ" ], "maxItems": 5000 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `dataset` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "countries": [ "ZA", "NA", "LS", "SZ" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("malmon/southern-africa-fx-rates").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "countries": [ "ZA", "NA", "LS", "SZ", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("malmon/southern-africa-fx-rates").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "countries": [ "ZA", "NA", "LS", "SZ" ] }' | apify call malmon/southern-africa-fx-rates --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=malmon/southern-africa-fx-rates", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Southern Africa FX Rates — Official Bank Exchange Rates API", "description": "Official daily FX rates from 5 Southern African central banks — ZAR, ZMW, BWP, NAD and MZN. NAD is pegged 1:1 to ZAR via the Common Monetary Area — derived rates flagged transparently. Every record source-attributed.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "XlXkJvP2S9AC7oaGQ" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/malmon~southern-africa-fx-rates/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-malmon-southern-africa-fx-rates", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/malmon~southern-africa-fx-rates/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-malmon-southern-africa-fx-rates", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/malmon~southern-africa-fx-rates/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-malmon-southern-africa-fx-rates", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "mode" ], "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Mode", "enum": [ "usd-core", "all-currencies", "historical" ], "type": "string", "description": "usd-core: one comparable USD rate per country (latest). all-currencies: all currencies SARB publishes (USD, GBP, EUR, JPY) for each country. historical: a time series over a date range — set Date from / Date to below.", "default": "usd-core" }, "countries": { "title": "Countries (optional filter)", "type": "array", "description": "Which countries to include (ISO 3166 alpha-2). ZA = South Africa (SARB), NA = Namibia (BoN/ZAR peg), LS = Lesotho (CBL/ZAR peg), SZ = Eswatini (CBS/ZAR peg).", "default": [ "ZA", "NA", "LS", "SZ" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "dateFrom": { "title": "Date from (historical mode)", "type": "string", "description": "Start date (YYYY-MM-DD). Required in historical mode. SARB and pegged currencies available back to 1990-01-02." }, "dateTo": { "title": "Date to (historical mode)", "type": "string", "description": "End date (YYYY-MM-DD). Required in historical mode." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 50000, "type": "integer", "description": "Hard cap on output records. Mainly relevant in all-currencies and historical modes.", "default": 5000 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```