Regional Integration
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Demographic Gaps in South Africa Over Time (Blog 1 of as many as it takes)
Posted: 15-Apr-2021
Michele Capazario (4 Min Read)Gender and racial inequality permeate the South African social landscape, even 25+ years after our democratization. This bias towards females and people of colour has inextricably created labour market tensions. Females and people of colour often earn substantially lower salaries for the same level of work. Even though affirmative action policies have been implemented across the country to some effect, not enough has been done to close the gap between earnings for people of colour and white individuals and separately for females and males. In this multi-part blog series, I look to discuss the gender and race salary differentials in the country, paying particular attention to the difference between conditional and unconditional wages.
Read ArticleThe 2nd Annual Number 43 Business Roundtable
Posted: 16-Nov-2015
Yash Ramkolowan, Matthew Stern and Zulaikha BreyThe 2nd Annual Number 43. Business Roundtable was held in Swaziland on 21 June 2015. This Roundtable event forms part of the annual celebrations recognising the contribution made by the Number 43. Trelawney Park household in the fight against Apartheid. Given the recognition of cross-border support to this cause, regional integration forms the core theme of the Roundtable discussion. This year, the Roundtable welcomed the South African Reserve Bank Governor, Mr. Lesetja Kganyago, as the event’s "Chief Instigator”. The resulting discussion was robust and serves to highlight some of the key constraints and opportunities to regional integration in SADC.
Read ArticleSouth Africa’s importance and reputation as an investor in Africa
Posted: October 07, 2013
Yash RamkolowanThe formation of the BRICS, Africa’s rising importance as a destination for foreign investment and the continent’s favourable growth prospects have ensured renewed focus on the continent, and South Africa is seen and marketed as a "gateway to Africa”. What is often missed however is the extent to which South African companies themselves have invested in the continent, and the positive light in which these companies are viewed by consumers in many host countries. A recent report by DNA Economics and TNS Surveys for NEDLAC’s Fund for Research into Industrial Development, Growth and Equity (Fridge) places the importance of South Africa’s outward FDI into context and assesses the attitude of host countries to South African investors.Read Article
What Zimbabwe’s new Constitution means for Provincial Leadership
Posted: October 07, 2013
Stephen ChisadzaFrom its Independence in 1980 until 2008, Zimbabwe was governed by the Lancaster House Constitution, a document that was hurriedly put together as part of the ceasefire agreement. Despite being amended 19 times the Constitution retained centralised power in the national government and the President. The President handpicked provincial governors and the Minister responsible for local government. These presidential appointees not only ran all local government structures but could also dissolve local government structures in the "interests of good governance and public administration”. The new Constitution accepts the principle of devolution, but fails to devolve any specific powers, leaving the definition of roles and responsibilities open to interpretation. Despite a constitutional shift in the right direction, in practical terms, it seems likely that there will be a continuation of the current situation in Zimbabwe, whereby political power remains centralized within the national government. Read Article
Spreading the gains from regional financial sector reforms
Posted: April 21, 2013
Stephen ChisadzaIn 2012, the SADC launched negotiations on the liberalisation
of trade in services for six priority sectors, including banking and other financial
services. It is expected that these
negotiations shall be finalised within three years. In theory, the liberalisation of trade in banking services is expected
to improve service quality as well as access to banking services. In practice,
the experience of many Southern African countries does not always stand up to
the theory.
Read Article
Increased financial openness in SADC - an invitation for trouble?
Posted: November 27, 2012
Zulaikha BreyRecent and dramatic changes in global financial markets have had disastrous effects on some less developed countries in Africa. Although these countries may not have strong and direct financial sector linkages with the rest of the world, their dependency on a limited number of primary sector goods has exposed them to changes in world demand, resulting in a slowing of growth. There is some risk that a prolonged global slowdown might reverse the successes attained in overcoming the food and fuel crises of the 1990s and bring social and economic development to a halt. These challenges raise questions about the rationale (or at least the timing) of global and regional efforts to deepen economic integration. Read Article
It's the end of SACU as we know it!
Posted: June 06, 2009
Matthew SternBusiness Day's lead story on Friday 6 June suggests the end of SACU may be near. See: "SA ready to tighten screws as EU trade row turns ugly".
The EU, in getting three of the five SA member countries to sign an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), may have handed the South African Government the excuse it has long been looking for to dismantle the world's oldest customs union. And there are good reasons why South Africa would be delighted to see the back of SACU. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is reluctant to surrender South Africa's trade (and industrial) policy authority over to the SACU Tariff Board, on which it will have just one of five equal seats. At the same time, the National Treasury has become increasingly bitter about the amount of hard-earned cash it hands over to other SACU member countries through the existing revenue sharing arrangement. Read Article
Something strange about SACU
Posted: August 05, 2007
Frank Flatters and Matthew Stern(and previously published as part of their Geekonomics column in the Business Day)
SADC Heads of States have committed themselves to establishing a regional customs union by 2010. This is an ambitious task, well beyond the scope of this little article. But discussions on regional integration bring into focus problems with the existing Southern African Customs Union (SACU), and this is something we Geeks do know something about. Importing motor vehicles from Botswana is just not as fun as it used to be.Read Article
