14:00 - 14:10 Opening and welcome by chairperson: Tshediso Matona 

14:10 - 15:30 Presentations and discussion:

• Neva Makgetla: Trends in Small Business in South Africa, presentation on the Small Business Real Economy Bulletin
• Saul Levin and Gabriel Davel: Credit Guarantee and access to finance for SMEs
• Shakespear Mudombi and Muhammed Patel: Small Business resilience and climate change adaptation

15:30 - 16:00 Open Discussion

16:00 Closure and light snacks 

Background

Small Business has been put forward as an important contributor towards economic growth, job creation and redress but faces many headwinds in South Africa that have hampered their development. Access to finance and more recently challenges around climate change are key barriers. 

This Development Dialogue will provide an overview of recent trends in small business in South Africa, and present research undertaken on credit guarantees and climate change adaptation, with discussion on some of the options and proposals to strengthen the SME eco-system.  

About the Speakers

Tshediso Matona is the Secretary of Planning in the National Planning Commission 

Saul Levin is the executive director of TIPS and has experience in industrial finance and small business development.

Neva Makgetla is a senior economist at TIPS. Makgetla has published widely on the South African economy and worked for many years in government.

Gabriel Davel is the CEO for the Centre for Credit Market Development and was previously the CEO of the National Credit Regulator. 

Shakespear Mudombi and Muhammed Patel are researchers at TIPS in the field of sustainable growth and green economy. 

ADDITIONAL PRESENTATIONS BY GABRIEL DAVEL

Partial guarantee schemes and SME lending

Facility for credit risk mitigation on SME loan protfolios

The Politics of Trade in the Era of Hyperglobalisation
A Southern African Perspective

Rob Davies
Friday 28 February 2020: 14:00 - 16:15

From 13:30 Arrival and coffee / tea
14:00 - 14:00 Opening and welcome by chairperson: Dr Faizel Ismail
14:15 - 15:15 Presentation by Dr Rob Davies
15:15 - 15:45 Discussants: Ambassador Xavier Carim and Sanusha Naidu
15:45 - 16:15 Discussion
16:15 Closure and light snacks
Copies of the book will be on sale after the launch

Background

The outcomes of trade negotiations have never been shaped by rational considerations of relative advantage alone - whether comparative or competitive. Struggle and competition have always profoundly affected trade outcomes. This book presents an analysis of the political economy of trade negotiations over the past quarter century on two main fronts: the multi-lateral and those pertaining to regional integration on the African continent. The book covers the evolution of the multi-lateral trading system, the rise of the World Trade Organization, the impact and outcomes of the global economic crisis, to the current crisis of multi-lateralism. The second part of the book focuses on regional integration in Africa as a tool for industrialisation and development.

About the Speakers

Rob Davies: Dr Rob Davies has been involved in international trade and regional integration for over 25 years, as the former Minister of Trade and Industry, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, and as a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee on trade and industry.

Faizel Ismail: Dr Faizel Ismail is the Director of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at UCT, a Professor at the UCT School of Economics, and a TIPS Research Associate. He has previously been an advisor to the Department of Trade and Industry on International Trade and Special Envoy on the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and served as the Ambassador Permanent Representative of South Africa to the WTO (2010-2014).

Xavier Carim: Ambassador Xavier Carim is the Deputy Director General responsible for the International Trade and Economic Development Division at the Department of Trade and Industry. He was previously the former South African Permanent Representative of South Africa to the WTO.

Sanusha Naidu: Sanusha Naidu is a foreign policy specialist based with the Institute for Global Dialogue. She has previously worked for the Open Society Foundation and Fahamu, and is widely published on Africa's foreign policy.

Date: Friday 28 February 2020
Time: 14h00 - 16h15
Venue: TIPS Boardroom, 234 Lange Street, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria
RSVP by email: daphney@tips.org.za to confirm attendance

AGENDA

14:15 - 14:30 Arrival and coffee / tea

14:30 - 14:45 Opening and welcome by chairperson

14:45 - 16:00 Presentations:

Neva Makgetla: Unemployment and GDP in perspective
Rudi Dicks: Accelerating industrial policy to drive growth

16:00 - 16:30 Discussion

16:30 Closure and light snacks

BACKGROUND

The latest jobs numbers and GDP figures point to the urgency of a strategy to put the economy on an upward trajectory. South Africa has huge capacity, but the vicious cycle of slow growth from 2015 is eroding the resilience of the economy and policy space. In this context, industrial policy has been put forward as an enabler, with the Presidency committed to driving growth through a more systematic approach to industry support and unblocking constraints.

This development dialogue will outline the recent economic data and discuss the potential role for industrial policy and stimulus options.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Rudi Dicks is the outcome 4 facilitator in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency.

Neva Makgetla is a senior economist at TIPS. Makgetla has published widely on the South African economy and worked for many years in government, most recently as Deputy Director General for Policy in the Economics Development Department, as well as in COSATU.

AGENDA

10:00 - 10:15 Arrival and coffee / tea

10:15 - 10:30 Opening and welcome by Chairperson: Xolelwa Mlumbi

10:30 - 12:00 Presentations:

Neva Makgetla: South Africa's exports and inclusive industrialisation
Faizel Ismail: A 'Developmental Regionalism' approach to the AfCFTA
Christopher Wood: Tracking imports, trends and anomalies

12:00 - 12:45 Discussion

12:45 Lunch

BACKGROUND

Exports are often seen as a necessary feature for industrialisation. Looking at the basket of South Africa's exported products, is there an opportunity in expanding or shifting exports to improve the industrial capacity of the country? How does the region feature within South Africa's exports? Expanding exports to neighbouring countries without comparable imports have seen significant trade imbalances. Will the African Continental Free Trade Agreement result in improved exports and imports, and ultimately support an industrialisation strategy for African economies? This Development Dialogue aims to discuss some of these challenges.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Xolelwa Mlumbi is the Deputy Director-General responsible for the International Trade and Economic Development (ITED) division at the Department of Trade and Industry.

Neva Makgetla is a senior economist at TIPS. Makgetla has published widely on the South African economy and worked for many years in government, most recently as Deputy Director General for Policy in the Economics Development Department, as well as in COSATU.

Dr Faizel Ismail is an Adjunct Professor at the UCT School of Economics and a TIPS Research Associate. He has previously been an advisor to the dti on International Trade and Special Envoy on the African Growth and Opportunity Act and served as the Ambassador Permanent Representative of South Africa to the WTO (2010-2014).

Christopher Wood is an economist at TIPS focusing on trade and industry policy. He set up the TIPS import tracker, which monitors the trends, spikes and highest imports. Chris previously worked as a researcher in economic diplomacy at the South African Institute of International Affairs.