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 tonnes of which 507 000 tonnes are exported to the EU under the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) - European Union (EU) Sugar Protocol, the Special Preferential Sugar Agreement, which provides a guaranteed price well above the world market price. The share of the sugar industry in the Mauritian economy has dwindled from 25% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the 1970s to about 3.5% in 2003, but still represents about 19% of foreign exchange earnings.

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 doubt that the services sector is an important driver of this economic growth and development. A vibrant services sector, nationally and globally, mainly emanates from the product market.

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 (2003)* observe that the value of annual trade in higher education services was estimated at US$30 billion, which was 50% of trade in financial services.

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 higher education.

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 of factors was responsible for the 2006-2008 food and oil crises, including increased demand for food and oil, rising prices, currency fluctuations, climatic conditions in producer countries, export restrictions, speculation in commodities markets and lack of productivity growth in key sectors.

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 this came the idea of supporting growth through regional economic integration, specifically through the institutions of regional economic communities.

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 was such that only 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was manufacturing at independence in 1964 – 90% of export revenues were with copper. Zambia has had two main eras of economic policy since independence, with a central planning approach in the first period. In 1991 Zambia evolved to a market economy model. Policies and the role of government differed – from that of investor to facilitator – but the outcome was similar: mineral exports have remained high and dominate the portfolio of goods exported.

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 the effects on Botswana's beef exports to the EU market, government's export revenue from the beef sub-sector, and cattle producers' incomes and rural employment in the cattle industry.

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, followed by full liberalisation in 1994. To increase competition, entry barriers were lowered in 1991 but this was followed by a moratorium on new banks that was lifted only in 2005. Reserve requirements for commercial banks were raised in 2000 following collapses in the 1990s and in 2004. Directed credit and credit ceilings were gradually removed but re-introduced using European Union funding in the late 1990s to support selected sectors, emphasising export production. Other reforms included privatisation with government divesting its stake in commercial banks in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1991, penalties were introduced for non-compliant banks and supervision was aligned with Basel 1. Legal and regulatory reforms to enhance the Bank of Uganda's authority started in 1993. Legislation governing microfinance institutions was introduced in 2003 followed by the Financial Institutions Act in 2004 with new regulations. In 1996 the Capital Markets Authority was established followed by the licensing of the Uganda Securities Exchange. Treasury bonds were introduced in 2004. Liberalising the exchange rate began in 1986 with a dual rate replacing the fixed rate, followed by a parallel foreign exchange market in 1992 marking the transition to a market-based system. This was followed by an inter-bank foreign exchange market, liberalisation of the current account and then capital account in 1997. Financial development can be assessed using the ratios of M2 money supply to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), M3 to GDP and domestic credit to GDP. From 1983 - 2008, M2 and M3 to GDP showed an initial sharp upwards trend followed by a decline and then a steady increase. Domestic credit to the private sector has not matched growth in the M2 and M3 shares of GDP. For instance from 1983-2008 M2 and M3 grew by 13% and 15% respectively while private sector credit grew by 11%. Deposit and lending rates rose from 9% and 15% in 1983 to 32% and 40% in 1989, with the spread widening to 15% in 1987. They then dipped, rose again and fell to about 8% and 20% in 1995, remaining at about those levels until the present. The inflation rate reflected these movements rising from about 25% in 1984 to a peak of 190% in 1998, driven by excess money supply, and then declining to single digit levels from 1994.

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, resulting in a high correlation between agricultural commodities* prices, particularly maize, and energy prices. While escalating petroleum prices are one reason for the quest for other sources of energy, this is not the only factor. The search for alternative sources of energy was underscored by environmental concerns and energy security concerns in the US and European Union countries about their reliance on oil from a few countries. The use of food products to generate fuel has raised concerns that this will raise prices of essential food items for poor households – and experts agree that biofuel production has affected the cost of food. Estimates range from a conservative estimate of 2%-3% by the US Department of Agriculture to 70%- 75% in a study done by Mitchell (2008)**. Has this increased production of biofuels resulted in a shortage of food supplies at the household level? Has that shortage – perceived or real — resulted in a permanent increase in prices thus threatening food security for poor households? Assuming that increased biofuels production threatens poor households' food supplies, what policy choices are available to governments in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)? biofuels production on maize prices, how the rise in maize prices affected low-income groups in SACU, and whether and when exportable maize surpluses are likely in South Africa.