Private companies

Abt Associates

DNA Economics was part of the consortium, led by Abt Associates, which managed the USAID-funded SEGA II (Support for Economic Growth and Analysis) Project in South Africa. The project supported more than 50 economic research and capacity building activities between 2004 and 2008.

Allen Consulting Group (ACG)

DNA Economics has worked with ACG to undertake a benchmarking study of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

Competition issues and litigation support, ongoing

DNA Economics is currently assisting a number of private companies with confidential competition matters and other forms of litigation.

The Evaluation Group

DNA Economics was contracted to assist with the evaluation of a Dutch funded skills development programme aimed at certain priority sectors in the economy as part of the broader JIPSA programme.

Harewelle International

DNA Economics has undertaken technical work on a number  of trade-related issues for Harewelle International and the programmes that they manage in Zambia and in Lesotho.

IBM Business Consulting

DNA Economics worked with IBM Business Consulting on the tender, design and implementation of the SEGA II Project in South Africa and sub-contracted to IBM Business Consulting for the first two years of the project.

Imani Development

DNA Economics was contracted to assess the revenue implications and model the economy-wide costs and benefits of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and Namibia.

Incite Sustainability

DNA Economics was subcontracted by Incite Sustainability to participate in the development of a Green Procurement Policy for the Western Cape Provincial Government. DNA Economics provided advice on supply chain management legislation and regulations, and helped to develop a province wide implementation plan.

Resolve Group

DNA Economics was part of the team (led by the Resolve Group) that carried out a labour diagnostic study to identify reasons for declining labour productivity in the forestry sector.

Standard Bank

DNA Economics prepared a strategy briefing for Standard Bank's Executive Management on recent trade and trade policy developments at the WTO and in South Africa and the main implications of these developments for the Bank and its clients.

Trusted Sources

DNA Economics provided quarterly and ad hoc economic and political reports on key trends and issues in South Africa to Trusted Sources for distribution to their institutional clients in Europe.

Government

Department of Health - South Africa

DNA Economics was contracted by Cooperazione Italiana to assist the South African National Department of Health in the development of national guidelines and a national register for clinical drugs trials.

Department of Land Affairs - South Africa

DNA Economics was awarded a tender to develop a Gender Responsive Budgeting Framework for the Department of Land Affairs. Gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is budgeting that integrates a gender perspective and tracks how budgets respond to gender equality and women's rights requirements.

Department of Public Enterprises - South Africa

DNA Economics brought together a team of local and international experts to advise the South African Department of Public Enterprises on the development of an appropriate export finance solution for a number of state-owned entities.

Department of Trade - Lesotho

DNA Economics assisted the Department of Trade in Lesotho in assessing the impact of the proposed SADC-EU economic partnership agrement on Lesotho tariff revenues and to identify some of likely adjustment costs.

Department of Trade and Industry - South Africa

DNA Economics is developing an export strategy to enable the DTI to provide improved support to South African exporters to Latin America.  This study includes a firm level survey of 150 existing exporters.

Under subcontract to SBP, DNA Economics provided ex ante economic analysis of the costs and benefits of the potential implementation of the IP Laws Amendment Bill. The final product comprised a regulatory impact assessment, as requested by Cabinet and commissioned by Presidency.

National Treasury of South Africa

DNA Economics was retained by the National Treasury of South Africa to content edit chapters from national departments in the economic services and infrastructure sector for both the 2008 and 2009 National Budget.

Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry – ZambiaDNA Economics is advising the Government of Zambia on the development of a services strategy for regional, EPA and multilateral trade negotiations.

The Presidency - South Africa

DNA Economics conducted a review of the current operation of the Program of Action, which is a tool used by the South African Presidency to monitor service delivery. The design and operation of the system were evaluated against theory and international best practice, and recommendations for improvement were made.

The Presidency has also commissioned DNA Economics to undertake an independent evaluation of the NIDS (National Income Dynamics Study).

South African Revenue Service

DNA Economics was commissioned by SARS to present to the tax administration sub-group of the India, Brazil, South Africa trilateral development initiative on the impact of financial crisis.

Donors and NGOs

AusAID

DNA Economics has been contracted by AusAID to provide quality assurance to the trade liberalization component of the AusAID Africa Governance Facility in Southern Africa. This involves regular technical assessments of the projects and outputs of the three participating institutions.

DNA Economics has also assisted AusAID in the design and management of a joint economic research programme between the Treasuries of South African and Australia and the preparation of a strategy paper on the impact of the financial crisis on select African countries

Centre for Development and Enterprise

DNA Economics was commissioned to undertake a study of the nature and scale of the 'capacity constraint' within the South African public sector.  The resulting paper identified the main causes and symptoms of the skills gap in government and made recommendations on alternative strategies to address capacity constraints.

DNA Economics was also contracted to evaluate the new South African Immigration Act and in particular the impact it has had on making it easier to obtain work permits and bring skilled professionals into the country.

Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)

DNA Economics has been contracted by DIIS to undertake two country case studies (South Africa and Zambia) on the impact and effectiveness of the untying of aid.

Department for International Development (DFID) - United Kingdom

DNA Economics was contracted by the DFID-funded Regional Trade Facilitation Programme (RTFP) to assist four SADC member states to identify a service sector for priority negotiation in an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and to evaluate the likely impact of liberalisation in these sectors.

DNA Economics also participated in the mid-term review of the DFID-funded Commark project.

Development Cooperation Ireland

DNA Economics provided short-term technical assistance to Development Cooperation Ireland to help them in the interviewing and recruitment of specialist health advisers to their project office in Pretoria.

Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA)

DNA Economics has been requested to undertake an independent review of ERSA and advise on the future mandate and location of this organization.

GTZ

DNA Economics undertook a review of all donor-funded trade activities in Mozambique to assist GTZ in planning its own interventions in this area.

Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC)

NUFFIC commissioned DNA Economics to undertake a situational analysis of the capacity constraints in the water sector and design skills development interventions to address them.

Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

DNA Economics was contracted by ODI to provide an economic analysis of the new Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenue sharing formula and to demonstrate the revenue implications of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) on the smaller SACU member states.

DNA Economics was also commissioned to undertake research and prepare a paper on the movement of medical doctors in and out of South Africa and the laws and other restrictions on such 'trade'.

South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)

DNA Economics was commissioned by SAIIA to review the existing economic literature on trade in services and to prepare a paper for South African business to explain the likely shape, costs and benefits of a bilateral services agreement between South Africa and the USA.

South African Savings Institute (SASI)

DNA Economics was commissioned to undertake a technical review of the Savings Barometer, which was developed as a tool to monitor the determinants of savings in South Africa and their impact on national savings. The research was funded by the FinMark Trust.

UNCTAD

DNA Economics was contracted by UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) to complete a study of trade and regulations in the South African construction sector as part of a wider project on trade in services in Southern Africa.

USAID

DNA Economics provided the Chief of Party and most of the domestic administrative and infrastructure services to SEGA II (Support for Economic Growth and Analysis), a USAID funded project which provided policy advice and analysis to select government departments and other relevant stakeholders in South Africa.

DNA Economics staff and associates were also involved in the design and implementation of an executive training programme on trade and industrial policy for USAID Mozambique.

Regional and Multilateral Institutions

COMESA

DNA Economics provided short-term technical assistance to the COMESA Technical Working Group of Services Meeting in Mauritius (with funding from DFID).

SACU Secretariat

DNA Economics won the bid to provide the SACU Secretariat and Council of Ministers with an independent study of the current regional revenue management arrangement and a number of broader economic issues.  DNA Economics was subsequently tasked to undertake a follow-up study to assist SACU and its member states with the implementation of a new revenue management arrangement.

DNA Economics has been contracted to develop a database and model, and to train SACU officials on the use of this model, in order to improve the Secretariat's ability to forecast customs revenue.

SADC Secretariat

DNA Economics was commissioned to identify, describe and evaluate possible 'modalities' for a SADC Customs Union, assess possible revenue sharing options and quantify the economic effects of these alternative options and modalities.  

The World Bank

DNA Economics was commissioned to assess the impact of VAT administration on cross-border trade within the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and to recommend ways in which regional VAT harmonisation could be improved.