South Africa’s tightening up of its competition law enables it to punish collusive conduct by firms, but there are major obstacles to implementing the changes.
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Inequality remains one of South Africa’s major problems. Thomas Piketty’s visit to the country provides an opportunity to explore ways to deal with this problem.
South Africa’s unemployment figures have been stubbornly high over the past two decades. One policy measure that could help alleviate the pressure is a youth wage subsidy.
Innovators and entrepreneurs will ensure that Africa continues to grow. But they need to be nurtured to lead the development.
Malawi’s large-scale subsidy for farmers has resulted in higher maize production, lower food prices and higher wages. But this has come at significant costs.
Too many new laws in South Africa are poorly thought through at the policy formulation stage. The new Socio-economic Impact Assessment will need rigorously support throughout government to succeed.
Oil and gas exploration could transform economies and improve lives in Africa, but this is not happening. People living in rural areas are the most excluded from the benefits.
A review of South Africa’s methodology to measure poverty shows that 60% of people in the country are poor. This is way higher than the figures that are usually quoted.
The seed industry in sub-Saharan Africa suffers from many challenges. India, which has one of the biggest seed markets in the world, offers some lessons on how these challenges could be overcome.
Over the past 60 years, China has experimented extensively with policies and programmes to encourage the growth of rural enterprises. Africa could do well by following in these footsteps.
Vodacom’s battle with its former employee over the “Please Call Me” service brings home global disputes over intellectual property rights. Do South African laws adequately protect innovators?
Contrary to Western views, China is in Africa for business. Between 1998 and 2012, about 2000 Chinese firms invested in 49 countries on the African continent.
The pursuit of endless industrial growth is chewing through our living planet, producing poverty and threatening our existence. The new Sustainable Development Goals fail to deal with this.
The motive behind South Africa’s new visa regulations is noble. But the implementation needs to be adapted and improved to minimise the negative effect on the country’s tourism industry.
South Africa’s lack of a clear policy direction, poor leadership, corruption and electricity supply problems will be the major constraints to its economic growth over the next 20 years.
Women need to start believing in themselves to be successful. Men own their success but women attribute it to external factors. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg learned this a while back.
One in five workers in South Africa is poor. The plight of the working poor has wide implications. Employers have a responsibility to ensure a minimum level of decent wages.
The South African gender pay gap is estimated, on average, to be between 15% and 17%. Employers are benefiting unduly from the historic undervaluing of women’s skills and contributions.
The demand for agricultural products in Africa is expected to rise over the next 35 years due to factors such as population growth, urbanisation, economic growth and changing diets.
White males still dominate South Africa’s boardrooms 17 years after legislation was passed to foster the inclusion of black executives and women. Companies have not yet embraced employment equity.
South Africa’s left wing trade unions may have found an unlikely ally in their objection to the proposed VAT hike. The OECD says there are other options South Africa could consider to raise revenue.
Huge investments have been made to develop Africa’s extractive industry. The challenge now is to forge collaboration between the industry and institutions of higher education to build a skills base.
The continued ownership of shares in central banks by private investors may be a superfluous relic but it enhances governance and adds to the transparency and accountability of central banks.
South Africa’s agricultural industry has struggled over the past 20 years due to the country’s rush to liberalise the sector while other countries continued to support their farmers.
The South African government should weigh its decision carefully whether to increase value added tax (VAT) as indirect taxes fall most heavily on the poor and the middle class.