Dirk Ernst van Seventer lives in New Zealand. He studied economics in the Netherlands and subsequently worked for 20 years as an economic analyst in South Africa amongst others as a research fellow at TIPS. After a 6 year stint at the New Zealand Department of Labour Dirk van Seventer has recently rejoined TIPS as a part-time research fellow where his work focuses on trade and economy-wide policy analysis and capacity building.    

For many African states, negotiations to liberalise trade in services is a relatively new experience. Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC) member states are set to negotiate services at several levels – regional, bilateral, multilateral and even at…

The absence of growth in intra-SADC trade in industrial products since the tariff phase-downs were initiated prompted by the ratification of the SADC Protocol on Trade in 2000 continues to generate interest amongst policymakers and other stakeholders as it appears that removal of market access constraint alone is not a…

This note highlights the pattern of South Africa, European Union and Asia trade over the period 1990-2009. The note pays particular attention to trade flow changes between South Africa and the EU and compares these to the changes in the trade flows between South Africa and Asia. The note also…

This research attempts to assess the attitudes of residents towards the perceived tourism impacts on their lives and communities in selected tourism coastal villages in Mauritius. A survey was used to examine residents' attitudes toward tourism development. The survey results show that tourism is a major pillar of the economy.…

Evidence based policy making is critical for developing sound and relevant government policies. The process of evidence based policy making by definition allows one to monitor specific variables to determine the efficacy of a government intervention. Accurate data and sound data analysis are needed to achieve particular objectives. In the…

For many of the African states, negotiations to liberalise trade in services is a relatively new phenomenon. For the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states, the only experience acquired on this subject was during multilateral negotiations in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Now…

Southern African Development Community (SADC) members signed the Trade Protocol in 1996, however progress in the region to reap the benefits purported to accompany regional economic integration appears limited. Although SADC has adopted a growth and development through trade strategy, indications are that more needs to be done to implement…

The quest for new sources of energy away from traditional petroleum products has in recent times led to the development and use of biological material (biomass). As the name suggests, biofuels are developed from organic materials. Thus an increase in the price of oil has also increased demand for biofuels,…

The objectives of financial sector reform in Uganda were interest liberalisation, reducing directed credit, improving prudential regulation, privatisating financial intermediaries, reducing reserve requirements, liberalisation of securities markets and pro-competition measures. Interest rate liberalisation focused on positive interest rates, with rates linked to the weighted average of an auction-based treasury bill,…

In 1997 the EU introduced a requirement that beef imports be traceable through a computerised system. To ensure continued access to the EU market, Botswana introduced the livestock identification and traceback system (LITS). The objectives  of this study are to estimate the costs associated with implementing the system and determine…

There is increasing evidence that export diversification is linked to growth. However, possibly less than 10 African countries show signs of export diversification, with manufacturing making up at least 25% of total exports. Botswana and Zambia are both heavily reliant on primary commodity exports. In Zambia, the dominance of copper…

In their quest to achieve higher economic growth and development African governments have experimented with different growth and industrialisation models. Prominent among these is the import substitution industrialisation (ISI) model adopted after gaining independence in the 1960s and 1770s. It is widely believed that the ISI model failed, and after…

Maize is the most important staple cereal consumed in the Southern African region. Global warming and accompanying increased volatility in rainfall, rising populations and the shift to maize-fed biofuels pose risks of substantial price increases in the future that may affect food security. The general view is that a combination…

A number of factors have propelled the rapid demand for foreign higher education services. These include the need for internationally recognised qualifications, the demand for highly skilled labour in both developed and developing countries, and the inclination by several countries towards promoting foreign collaborations to improve the quality of domestic…

Globally, a rapid increase of mobile tertiary education seekers has been observed. In 2005, more than 2.7 million tertiary education students were studying in a country other than their own, representing an increase of about 61% since 1999.  Trade in education services is increasingly becoming important worldwide. Saner and  Fasel…

Having a vibrant production base is the foundation of economic prosperity. The more goods a country produces the more jobs are created. The specialisation resulting from the production of goods tends to result in newer technologies and higher levels of income, which leads to even higher growth. There is little…

Sugar cane remains a major contributor to the Mauritian economy. In 2003 it was cultivated on 85% of the arable land by 28 000 planters, with most planters being smallholders. One in three rural families is directly or indirectly involved in the sugar industry. Annual sugar production averages 575 000…

This paper models tourist arrivals into Mauritius from various parts of the world with a view to understand the contribution of different determinants in explaining the success of the island as an international tourism destination. A dual methodological approach was adopted namely panel date and survey frameworks. Results from the…

William Mbuta was the Science and Technology Development Officer at the National Science and Technology Council of Zambia before becoming assistant general manager in the area of policy research at a Chamber of Mines; he them worked at the SADC Secretariat where he was Programme Officer – Industrial Policy at…