How a post-COVID-19 revival could kickstart Africa's free trade area
Article by Dr Faizel Ismail, Director of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, and TIPS Research Fellow in The Conversation 26 May, 2020.

Making Britain great again! For what purpose? Implications for South Africa's future relations with the UK post-Brexit!
This paper looks at the future of South Africa-United Kingdom trade relations in the post-Brexit period. It provides a brief background and looks at the history of trade relations until the onset of democracy in1994. It then looks at SA-UK trade relations since 1994, including the negotiations the led to the Southern African Development Community-Economic Partnership Agreement. Authors: Dr Faizel Ismail and Jay Grunder.

Decreasing import customs fraud in the context of customs modernisation
This report provides background into the key approaches to customs fraud management, and outlines the processes as well as work done by the South African Revenue Service (SARS)to improve the customs environment. The report finds that as these management processes improve, there will be less physical control at border posts. While South Africa is still a way from being in such a position, the systems and the process are in place to move in that direction, and there is an important role for the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) to play to support the decrease of customs fraud. Author: Sandy Lowitt (TIPS).

The Green Economy Coalition (GEC) is the largest global alliance of organisations working on a green economy. The membership spans Asia, Africa, South America, North America and Europe and represents a wide range of interests including the poorest, the environment, business, the United Nations, research and government. Despite its diversity, the coalition is committed to accelerating the transition to green and fair economies. In South Africa, Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) and the African Centre for a Green Economy (African Centre www.africancentre.org) are active members of the coalition. The Green Economy Coalition is supported by funding and assistance from the European Union.

TIPS in partnership with the South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, based at the University of Johannesburg, and in association with the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), hosting the 2017 Annual Forum in June, 2017. It was supported by the European Union and the Department of Trade and Industry. The theme of the Forum was Industrialisation and Sustainable Growth See Summary report of the Forum below.

GEC is also supporting the production of seven reports. Draft titles of the seven reports in production are:

• Governance for South Africa’s sustainability transition: A critical review, by Gaylor Montmasson-Clair (completed)
• A South African Strategy for trade in environmental goods, by Christopher Wood (completed)
• The role of plantation forestry for promoting sustainability in South Africa, by Struan R. Robertson (completed)
• Nature in South Africa’s transition to sustainability: A stocktake, by Shakespear Mudombi (completed)
• Transforming South Africa’s passenger transport sector for sustainable development in South Africa, by Bhavna Deonarain and Kelello Mashiane (completed)
• Water and sanitation in South Africa: Past, present, and future, by Shakespear Mudombi (completed)
• Building an environmentally-sustainable economy in South Africa, by Gaylor Montmasson-Clair

Reports

• Governance for South Africa’s sustainability transition: A critical review
• A South African strategy for trade in environmental goods
• The role of plantation forestry for promoting sustainability in South Africa
• Nature in South Africa's transition to sustainability: A stocktake
• Transforming South Africa’s passenger transport sector for sustainable development in South Africa
• Water and sanitation sustainability in South Africa: Past, present, and future

This series of four papers was commissioned by the Future Industrial Production Technologies Chief Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti). This unit is focused on preparing South African industry for the fourth industrial revolution.

• Framing the concepts that underpin discontinuous technological change, technological capability and absorptive capacity
  This paper takes the form of a literature study on the topic of technological change, innovation and building technological capabilities.
• World Economic Forum and the fourth industrial revolution in South Africa
  This paper focuses on the fourth industrial revolution and the concept as promoted by the World Economic Forum, international consultancies, governments and multinational firms.
• Mapping the meso space that enables technological change, productivity improvement and innovation in the manufacturing sector
  This paper focuses on meso organisations and policies that strengthen the technological capability of the country or an industry to enable change, adaptation and economic resilience.
• Technological change and sustainable mobility: An overview of global trends and South African developments
  This paper focuses on technological change and the developments in the sustainable mobility topic in South Africa.

Climate change will have drastic impacts on South Africa’s economy and society, and the need to adapt is urgent. As the country embarks on a just transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally-sustainable economy, an opportunity exists to develop domestic small, green businesses.

This report and five case studies are part of a broader initiative on small business development in South Africa’s climate change space, by TIPS with support and funding from the Government of Flanders. The research comprises a main report, which summarises the research findings on the topic, and five case studies on South African-based entrepreneurs active in the adaptation space: AB Farms, EWEF-SusTech, Loo Afrique, MySmartFarm and Waste Intrique.

Main report

• Small Business Development in the Climate Change Adaptation Space in South Africa

Climate change adaption and small business – case studies

• Mogale Maleka and Tumelo Pule: Using hydrophonics to enhance food security
• Bulelwa Ntsendwana: Harnessing chemistry for sustainable development and women empowerment
• Rori Mpete: Thinking outside the box – retrofitting water saving in conventional waterborne sanitation systems
• Wolfgang von Loeper: Sustainable farming: ensuring food security while preserving the planet
• Tshego Mpete: Embracing green opportunities in the water sector

Unlocking green jobs in South Africa

The Unlocking Green Jobs: A Catalytic Intervention was a two-year collaboration between the World Wide Fund for Nature, South Africa (WWF-SA) and Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS). Published reports include a synthesis report, Unlocking green jobs in South Africa: A catalytic intervention, which summarises the findings and three three case studies. The reports were produced with the financial assistance of the WWF Nedbank Green Trust and Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Main report

• Unlocking green jobs in South Africa: A catalytic intervention - synthesis report

Case studies

• Essential Amathole: A case study of unlocking green jobs in the bioprospecting sector
• Protecting and unlocking jobs through water stewardship: A case study Linked to the Umbogintwini Industrial Complex, Ethekwini
• Unlocking and retaining jobs in the alien vegetation added value chain through industrial symbiosis: Case study on wood pellets

These working papers are part of workstream 6 on Regional Growth and Development within the Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) project, a three-year partnership between UNU-WIDER and the South African government aimed at improving understanding of regional value chains and supporting industrialisation in the SADC region. In year one of the project TIPS produced five papers: lessons from ASEAN; an analysis of local content requirements as a non-tariff barrier; and reviews of three value chains: agro-processing machinery, motorcycle parts and the aftermarket industry, and capital equipment for copper processing.

• Black cat, white cat – lessons to be learnt from ASEAN
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-26.pdf
  
  
• Charity begins at home – the political economy of non-tariff barriers to trade in Southern Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-61.pdf
  
  
• Motorcycle parts and aftermarket industry regional value chain in Southern Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-38.pdf
  
  
• Assessment of demand in agro-processing machinery in the SADC region: A case study of the maize-milling machinery value chain in South Africa and Zambia
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-70.pdf
  
  
• Moving up the copper value chain in Southern Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-52.pdf
  
  
• Initial considerations for the creation of an inter-regional industrial hemp value chain between Malawi and South Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2020-23.pdf
  
  
• Future-proofing the plastics value chain in Southern Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2020-148.pdf
  
  
• The COVID-19 pandemic and the economy in Southern Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-113.pdf
• Learning from experience: Special Economic Zones in Southern Africa
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-124.pdf

The Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker was a quarterly index tracking investment spending in the manufacturing sector. It measured investment by manufacturing enterprises in property, plant and equipment, research and development, and human capital. 

TIPS and the Manufacturing Circle collaborated on seminars to share insights from the quarterly survey results, inform policy strategies and facilitate a collaborative policy development process.

Brochure: Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q3 2018 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q2 2018 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q2 2018 - Media Statement

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q1 2018 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q1 2018 - Media Statement

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q4 2017 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q4 2017 - Media Statement

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q4 2017 - Presentation

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q3 2017

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q3 2017 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q3 2017 - Media Statement

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q2 2017 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q1 2017 - Summary Findings and Outlook

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q4 2016

Manufacturing Circle Investment Tracker Q3 2106

The Manufacturing Circle launched its  Map to a Million New Jobs in a Decade on 24 November 2017, a plan to create an environment in which manufacturing in South Africa can thrive and jobs can be created.

Map to a Million New Jobs in a Decade

The second, more advanced, set of indicators differs from the first set in that these templates are fully formulated to produce formatted answers for each indicator. That is to say, the second set of templates not only describe the methods of calculating, but have already been programmed with final results for the 13* SADC countries.

The aim is modest in terms of capacity building by bringing selected trade performance measures to the attention of trade analysts in a learning by doing self-help style so that own applications can be considered.

Go to country:
Angola | Botswana | Democratic Republic of Congo | Lesotho | Malawi | Namibia | Mauritius | Mozambique | South Africa | Swaziland | Tanzania | Zambia | Zimbabwe

*Templates are not available for Madagascar and the Seychelles

This set of templates contains easy-to-follow steps which illustrates the processes and objectives of calculating the following trade and tariff indicators:

1. Import Intensity Indexes
2. Export Intensity Indexes
3. Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA)
4. Revealed Trade Barriers (RTB)
5. Intra Industry Trade Indexes and
6. Tariff Data Profiles

Below are Guides, Examples, Exercises and Solutions for both trade and tariff indicators.