Engineering News - 25 February 2022 by Marleny Arnoldi 

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Overview of the European Green Deal (Ariane Labat, EU Delegation to South Africa)

Opportunities and risks for South African exporters (Martin Cameron, Trade Advisory)

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and implications for South African and European Union trade (Lerato Monaisa, TIPS)

The EU’s Green Deal and its implications for South Africa ( Karen Bosman, Wesgro)

Preparing green SMMEs for trade opportunities presented by the European Green Deal (Trudi Hartzenberg, tralac) 

Information sheets

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

Farm to Fork Strategy

Circular Economy Action Plan

Research report

The European Green Deal: Context, challenges and opportunities for South African SMEs operating in the green economy (TIPS, tralac, Trade Advisory)

Policy Briefs

Sustainable complexity: Managing export regulations in the European Green Deal (Christopher Woood)

European Green Deal: The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and implications for South African and European Union trade (Lerato Monaisa, TIPS) 

Media

Press release: We need to throw our green hat into the ring - a call to South African exporters

Background  

The European Green Deal (EGD) is a is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral by 2050. These policy initiatives aim to make all sectors of the European Union's economy fit to contribute to the European Union reaching its climate targets by 2030 in a fair, cost-effective and competitive way. The EGD proposes several action plans and initiatives in priority areas, which include energy, land, biodiversity, clean air, sustainable foods and buildings, among others. South African exporters to the European Union will need to adapt to this change, to assure their long-term competitiveness in a changing market. This webinar focuses on the EGD and its potential implications for South African trade with the European Union.

Welcome and introduction

• Elize Hattingh, Sustainable Growth Researcher, Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS)

Overview of the EDG

• EDG overview - Ariane Labat, EU Delegation to South Africa.
• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) implications - Lerato Monaisa, TIPS
• Opportunities and Risks for South African exporters - Martin Cameron, Trade Advisory

Panel Discussion: EDG Trade Impacts for South Africa

• Trudi Hartzenberg, tralac
• Karen Bosman, Wesgro
• Melisizwe Tyiso, Nadeli
• Tinashe Kapuya, Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy

Open discussion (Q&A)

About the speakers

Ariane Labat is currently counsellor for climate action, environment and agriculture at the EU Delegation to South Africa, after four years as head of cooperation for the EU Delegation to the Kingdom of Eswatini. Ariane was previously cluster lead mitigation for the EU international negotiation team at the UNFCCC from Cancun to the Paris Agreement; she had further previous assignments as an economist working to unlock sustainable and inclusive growth opportunities in Europe, Latin America and China.

Lerato Valentia Monaisa is an Economist and works in the Sustainable Growth pillar at TIPS. She has a Bachelor of Economics (with a distinction in economics) and Bachelor of Economics Honours (with distinction) from Rhodes University. She has MPhil in Industrial Policy at the University of Johannesburg.

Trudi Hartzenberg is the Executive Director of tralac. She has a special interest in trade-related capacity building. Her research areas include trade policy issues, regional integration, investment, industrial and competition policy.

Martin Cameron is a quantitative economist specialising in quantitative executive decision support modelling, economic impact analysis and engineering management decision support. He has extensive experience in international trade and energy economics.

Tinashe Kapuya is an experienced soft commodities analyst, and agricultural value chain and trade specialist who has worked in this capacity both as a researcher and practitioner in the private sector over the past 10 years. His areas of expertise include agribusiness and value chain development, market and trade analysis, agro-food system analysis, research and policy advocacy. Tinashe was a regular contributor to the Agbiz Weekly Newsletter, GrainSA magazine and FarmBiz Magazine and continues to write for the Landbouweekblad and Business Day, among others.

Karen Bosman works as a Strategic Research and Public Affairs Officer at Wesgro. Areas of experience include international trade and investment law; policy advocacy; export development and international investment promotion and facilitation; strategic communication; legislative and constitutional processes; legislative analysis; regulation of international services trade; regional economic harmonisation; commercial law and litigation. She has a Master’s Degree in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University.

Melisizwe Tyiso works as a Researcher at the National Labour and Economic Institute (NALEDI).

About the facilitators

Host: Elize Hattingh is a Sustainable Growth researcher at TIPS. She has been actively involved in promoting the sustainable development agenda for more than 15 years.

Panel convener:  Gaylor Montmasson-Clair

Gaylor is a Senior Economist at TIPS which he joined in 2011. He is also a Research Fellow at the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Finance and Political Science, and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) of Grenoble, France.

Event details

Date:   Wednesday, 6 April 2022 

Business Day - 14 March 2022 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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BusinessTech - 11 March 2022

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Bilateral or regional trade agreements (RTAs) are essentially preferential in nature and a deviation from the World Trade Organization principle of most-favoured-nation or non-discrimination, as they are intended to benefit signatory countries. However, the agreement could be abused by competitive third-countries that use a member country of the RTA (that has a low external tariff) as a springboard to penetrate the entire regional preferential market. Such a scenario could undermine the industries of other countries within the RTA. To avoid such a scenario, free trade agreements or RTAs use rules of origin (RoO) to determine the national origin of the product and to establish the thresholds for local content or value-added before the product is re-exported.

This Discussion Paper outlines the different types of RoO, provides a brief overview of the approaches to RoO adopted by Africa's Regional Economic Communities, and explores the mainstream academic literature on RoO in the automotive, textiles and apparel sectors. Following this, it highlights current trends in the cotton, textile and apparel production and regional value chains in Africa, arguing that the AfCFTA should adopt a developmental regionalism approach to its RoO negotiations in the cotton, textiles and apparel RVC. In this context, some recommendations for policymakers and negotiators are also provided.

ITNewsAfrica.com - 14 March 2022 by Zintle Nkohla 

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Business Day - 28 February 2022 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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BusinessTech - 11 March 2022

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Main Bulletin: The Real Economy Bulletin - Fourth Quarter 2021

In this edition

GDP growth: The GDP expanded by 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing growth for 2021 as a whole to 4.9%, despite the 1.7% contraction in the third quarter and the COVID-19 surge in December. Read more.

Employment: Statistics South Africa has delayed publication of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2021 indefinitely because of a low response rate. The alternative source of information on formal employment, the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), has since reported a 0.5% increase for the third quarter of 2021. The QES provides far less information than the QLFS on employment by industry, region, race and gender, so the resurrection of the QLFS, based on in-person interviews, is crucial for economic decision-making and monitoring in the future. Read more.

International trade: The surplus on the balance of trade for goods continued to drift downward as commodity prices flattened out and the cost of petroleum climbed in the fourth quarter of 2021. The impact of the Russian invasion on commodity prices may disrupt these trends in 2022. Read more.

Investment: Private investment climbed 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021, although it remained 9% below pre-pandemic levels. Public investment declined, ending the year 10% lower than before the pandemic. Read more.

Foreign direct investment projects: The TIPS Foreign Direct Investment Tracker monitors FDI projects on a quarterly basis, using published investment information. It identified 24 new projects in the fourth quarter of 2021. The 24 projects reported entailed a total investment value of approximately R126 billion. The bulk came from a single manufacturing project, a US$4.6 billion (R70.5 billion) green ammonia export plant. Most of the other projects fall under the fifth window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Read more.

Briefing Note: The Ukraine war and the South African economy: The war in the Ukraine has vastly increased uncertainty for the global economy, and consequently for South Africa. The war itself will have limited impact on trade because South Africa has only very limited economic ties to Russia and Ukraine. But it has already led to extreme volatility in commodity prices, affecting both export products and as well as petroleum, wheat and fertiliser imports. It seems likely to disrupt international capital markets as well. In the longer run, it may prove a significant drag on growth in the global North, which is still South Africa’s main export market. Read the Briefing Note online: The Ukraine war and the South African economy.

Briefing Note: Towards an inclusive rollout of electric vehicles in South Africa: mobility is high. The world is rapidly moving towards e-mobility. Pushed by environmental regulations, support programmes and improving economics, electric vehicles (EVs) that is traditional hybrid (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery electric (BEV) vehicles, are set to become dominant in the coming decades. Yet this electric revolution risks leaving many commuters behind, further deepening inequalities between and within countries. The risk of an exclusionary, elitist transition to e-mobility is high. Read the Briefing Note online: Towards an inclusive rollout of electric vehicles in South Africa.

Electric vehicles (EVs) increasingly feature on the roads of the world. Pushed by environmental regulations, support programmes and improving economics, they are set to become dominant in the coming decades. Yet, the rollout of EVs risks leaving many behind. This policy brief considers the rollout of EVs in South Africa, focusing on the
opportunity to foster an inclusive transition to e-mobility for passenger transport. Given the structure of the South African economy, a dual strategy is required. The brief first looks at how an inclusive rollout of passenger cars could be incentivised in South Africa, effectively to sway entry-level buyers (i.e. upper middle-income households) to purchase EVs instead of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It then considers how to introduce EVs into public transport, to extend the benefits of e-mobility to low-income and lower middle-income households in the country.