Lower oil prices and a rise in domestic demand could fuel a modest rebound for South Africa’s economy in 2015 after power supply and labour disruptions slowed growth last year. Broader uncertainty over emerging markets took its toll on the South African economy in 2014. This came at the same time as labour stoppages in the mining and manufacturing sectors, and a volatile currency, which led to full-year…
The government is in the final stages of its review on the ICT sector in South Africa after the publication of a discussion paper in November, prior to the launch of a set of policy recommendations early next year. The report brings together responses from a green paper unveiled in January 2014, which invited industry comments on policy options on a broad range of topics, including regulation, infrastructure…
South Africa’s ascent as a major diplomatic and economic player within Africa and on the global stage over the past two decades has been swift. In December 1994, less than a year after winning South Africa’s first democratic election in a landslide, the African National Congress (ANC) released a document outlining the party’s perspective on foreign policy. “South Africa is both a trading and…
Chapter three of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution begins “...in the Republic, government is constituted as national, provincial and local spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated.” This sentence, which underpins the nation’s federalist system of authority, has had a profound impact on the development and implementation of government policies over the past…
On April 27, 2014, South Africa celebrated the 20th anniversary of the country’s first multiracial and fully democratic elections, a momentous occasion that signalled the full end of apartheid and the foundation of the modern democratic state. In 1994, newspapers around the world printed headline photos of the long queues that people waited in simply to cast their first ballot – a striking visual…
As with many emerging markets, small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) make up a large proportion of South Africa’s private sector. According to the government’s economic blueprint, the National Development Plan, 90% of planned new jobs will be created by SMEs by 2030. To enable this, the government has rolled out a new department charged with aiding SME activity, the Ministry of Small Business…
The South African economy grappled with headwinds in early 2014, although it did avoid a recession in the second quarter of the year. The country’s long-term fundamentals remain fairly attractive, but the new cabinet still faced a tricky job of stimulating growth over the remainder of the year. The economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter of 2014, after shrinking by an annualised 0.6% in the first…
Stoking job creation in any country is a tricky thing, and South Africa is no exception, as the government faces an uphill battle in transforming what 20 years ago was a lopsided, closed and exclusionary system into an inclusive economy. The task is daunting. Unemployment ticked up to 25.5% at the end of the first half of 2014, and youth unemployment is estimated to be double that. Taking the broader…
Bank penetration increased from 67% in 2012 to 75% in 2013, with an additional 3.5m people having access to formal banking services. The rollout of the South African Social Security Agency – adding 1.9m people – spurred much of this growth. Of the 16m South Africans who receive social grants, 93% are now registered on the new social security system, which requires a bank account for payment. The…
Following the success in Kenya of Safaricom’s M-Pesa programme, a mobile money scheme that now handles roughly 10% of Kenya’s GDP on an annual basis, mobile financial services have become increasingly popular in Africa. Though the results have been mixed, the fundamentals of the mobile phone as a financial tool are sound. In South Africa, mobile penetration is in excess of 100% compared to a financial…
