The Development Dialogue Seminar series is a new Seminar Series hosted by TIPS and the Commark Trust. The Seminars will generally be held in the afternoon of the last Friday of the month, and will start at 14h00 and conclude at 15h30 though discussions can continue after 15h30. However, for international speakers, the seminars could be held on other days. Please refer to the programme on the home page.

The Seminar programme has been designed for government officials and other stakeholders for whom the themes tackled are of relevance. The Seminars offer a platform to share views and ideas on specific development issues and alternative policy strategies.

The themes covered by the series are wide ranging - they span the informal economy, specific trade negotiation challenges, etc. the seminar series also attempts to offer perspectives from other countries in the region and beyond.

Who can attend?

Government officials and others who contribute to policy are targeted by the Seminar series. Though places are limited, please do let us know if you feel that a seminar would be of particular relevance to someone else.

Confirmation of attendance is required.

The First Seminar of 2008

The first Development Dialogue Seminar of 2008 will take place on the 25 January 2008 at 14h00.

The seminar will be on "Multiple crops and local distribution models for poverty alleviation: feasibility and recommendations".

About the Speaker

Tracy Van Der Heijen:

Tracy has received an Honours degree in Economics and Law from Wits. She has 7 years economic research experience in banking (at the Treasury) and stock broking, and 5 years in financial services. She was MD of an asset management company (R30 billion in assets) and MD of an asset management administration company (R40 billion in assets). Since 2003, Tracy has been working as an independent consultant. Her work includes public sector reform in Malawi, the implementation of various parts of the new National Credit Act for the NCR and economic analysis work for City of Johannesburg. She has also undertaken various studies for the HSRC, largely around job creation.

RSVP by email: Glenda@tips.org.za to confirm attendance and specify food allergies if any, as a light lunch will be served.

In 2004, TIPS also undertook a study to document public sector support to the small enterprise sector over the last decade for the dti.

The Review documents 10 years of evolution of the dti's small enterprise support programmes and its overall strategy, leading to the current 'Integrated Strategy for Small-Enterprise Support', and plans for the next 10 years.

In 2005, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda) - the dti's newly established agency for supporting small business - tasked TIPS to carry out a second annual review of South Africa's small businesses as part of its mandate to support the growth of small enterprise in South Africa, to help create a better regulatory environment for small enterprise, and to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship.

The Annual Review of Small Business in South Africa 2004, this time published in two parts - A Statistical Review and a Qualitative Review - was launched at the first annual seda National Small Enterprise Summit in November 2005. These Summits aim to review the progress made in small business development, and to share best practice in this field.

In 2005, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda) - the dti's newly established agency for supporting small business - tasked TIPS to carry out a second annual review of South Africa's small businesses as part of its mandate to support the growth of small enterprise in South Africa, to help create a better regulatory environment for small enterprise, and to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship.

The Annual Review of Small Business in South Africa 2004, this time published in two parts - A Statistical Review and a Qualitative Review - was launched at the first annual seda National Small Enterprise Summit in November 2005. These Summits aim to review the progress made in small business development, and to share best practice in this field.

The Department of Trade & Industry's (the dti's) Enterprise Development unit is tasked with developing policy and strategy for the small business sector. The objectives of government policy and strategy on enterprise development are empowerment, economic development and job creation. Much progress towards meeting these objectives has been made over the first decade of democracy in South Africa, but challenges remain.

In assessing the progress made, it is important to provide a formal mechanism for monitoring and evaluation of government's overarching strategy towards small business development and to allow for feedback on the outcomes of government strategy at various levels household, sectoral, regional and national.

In 2004, the dti commissioned TIPS as an independent, credible institution not directly involved in the delivery of SMME services to undertake a broad-ranging, qualitative assessment of the outcomes of government's policy, strategy and initiatives in enterprise development.

The first annual assessment of the impact of government policy in this key dimension of government activity, the Annual Review of Small Business in South Africa 2003, was published early in 2004. This Review addressed what has long been a critical weakness of research efforts around SMMEs: the lack of longitudinal or time-series data illustrating the effect of government's enterprise development strategy over time.

Moreover, the Review also focussed on the increasingly desperate need to develop a consistent dataset of SMMEs that have been interviewed repeatedly over time, which thus allows the dti to access a wealth of analytically sound information about how SMMEs develop in different economic climates and their support needs at different times in their development.

The IT revolution has allowed techniques that were once the preserve of a handful of leading theoreticians to become part of the practical economist's everyday toolkit. CGE modelling is one of a number of approaches to economy-wide analysis that have become accessible and practicable as data- and computer-based techniques have developed. An increasing number of economists use this framework to analyse real-world issues that were previously approached through less appropriate partial equilibrium methods.

As part of our commitment to ensure that Southern Africa benefits from these development, TIPS has co-presented a series of related short workshops over the past seven years and is planning a further installment from 12 to 20 March 2008. This workshop is part of an ongoing programme on Economic Modelling at TIPS and integrates theory, real world data, hands-on computer work and real-world applications. Participants will be:

• introduced to the micro, macro and trade theories that underlie typical CGE models;
• offered an overview and practical examples of Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) and of parameter and elasticity estimation methods which typically provide the data on which CGEs are built;
• taught the necessary commands in GAMS, a programming language widely used in economy-wide policy modelling; and
• exposed to issues involved in using models for specific applications, such as the analysis of trade, public finance, regulation and environmental economics. Some of these topics will be presented by special instructors, who bring a wide range of practical experiences to the learning process.

These components of the modeller's tool-kit are taught in an integrated and cumulative way. The theory is developed alongside the practical applications, which move from introductory exercises to more advanced applications. The applications use materials developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and adapted by the workshop instructors to suit Southern African economies.

Participants will apply what they learn to a mini-project, which will be presented to the class at the end of the workshop. By that time, all participants will have sufficient competence to be able to continue developing their skills independently.

The workshop is targeted at those who wish to develop professional expertise in the area, as well as those who need to understand the potential and limitations of the use of these approaches without themselves becoming modellers. As such it should appeal to policy-makers and analysts in both the public and the private sectors, as well as to students and academics. Many of the special instructors are alumni of past workshops. The workshop is part of the development of a community of builders and users of economy-wide models in Southern Africa.

No previous exposure to CGE modelling is required, although it will be an advantage if participants have some familiarity with SAMs.

Workshop fees:

R12 500 (excluding VAT, including lunch and refreshments, R15 000 for participants outside of SADC).

Deadlines:

To ensure that the workshop is pitched at the correct level, we invite interested participants to submit short CVs to denves@xtra.co.nz before 12 January 2008.

Deposit:

Upon acceptance, participants will be required to make a non-returnable deposit of R2 500 (R3 000 for participants outside of SADC) to secure a place before 26 January 2008.

Discount:

Full workshop payment by 26 January 2008 will ensure to a 20% discount on the workshop fees.

The organisers reserve the right to change the course dates at any point.

Tentative Programme:

The workshop will be taught using a mixture of lectures and hands-on computer labs. Because the emphasis is on developing an understanding of CGE modelling as a practical tool, many sessions will involve both lectures and exercises. We also try to pace the workshop to ensure maximum understanding. The following programme is thus indicative of the sequence of topics rather than the exact times devoted to each area. Lab sessions include discussion and interpretation of results, to which participants will be expected to contribute. Light "homework sheets" will be distributed at the end of each day, as preparation for the next day's topics.

The Director of Economic Rise Consulting, Shirley Robinson is an economist advising on public policy concerns, primarily targeted towards urban and regional economic development.

She is also working part-time as a technical assistant for National Treasury’s Technical Assistant Unit, Economic Development and International Relaitons portfolio.

Shirley holds a master's degree in Business Science (Economics) from the University of Cape Town and has worked extensively in the public sector with the National Treasury's budget team, the Western Cape Provincial Treasury and Premier's Office, as well as in the non-governmental sector, with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa's Budget Information Service.