WIDER Working Paper 2019/26

This working paper, Black cat, white cat - lessons to be learned from ASEAN, forms part of the project: Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED)

Abstract

There is some consensus at present that SADC needs to re-imagine itself and breathe new life into its somewhat moribund structure. The European Union is often presented as the textbook example to be followed by other regional associations. The European Union is characterised by a rules-based, heavily bureaucratic and powerful supranational institutional structure to which individual nations have ceded sovereignty in several spheres (most notably the economy). The European Union has progressed in a highly linear and consecutive fashion from a free trade area to a customs union, to a single market and a common currency.

 On the other end of the integration spectrum sits the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Based on Confucian values and culture, it emphasises harmony, group above individual, and pragmatism above rules. ASEAN is designed around principles and behaviour norms rather than rules; it is intergovernmental instead of supranational; it is more market driven than government driven; it has strong bottom up and extra-entity processes, decision-making is based on unanimity not majority; it is institutionally and bureaucratically lite; it embraces open regionalism with unclear rules for entry; and deepening integration is being achieved in an ad hoc, parallel fashion rather than a linear, consecutive fashion.

In this paper, some of the key elements of ASEAN and its operationalisation are considered, not as recommendations or a systematic alternative guide to reconsidering the conceptual basis of SADC’s regional integration efforts – but simply as potential catalysts for discussion and thinking about problems from a different perspective.

Download Working Paper: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-26.pdf

TIPS acknowledges the support of the SA-TIED programme for this working paper, with special thanks to UNU-WIDER and the South African Department of Trade and Industry.

Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies: Founders' Day Lecture Series - Guest lecture by Professor Faizel Ismail* 

The Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) Founders’ Day is an annual event which provides a platform for scholarly discourse and the exhibition of legal scholarship of outstanding academics. Over the years, guest lecturers have examined contemporary issues such as intellectual property, the role of the International Criminal Court, human rights, and constitutional imperatives.

The 2019 Founders’ Day Lecture titled Inclusivity and the Transformational Potentials of the AFCFTA for African Countries explores the potentials of regional trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The lecture provides a historical perspective of AfCFTA, discussing the roles and purposes of existing trade agreements such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The lecture interrogates the role of the AfCFTA and economic transformation and industrialisation in Africa, and provides insights into the inter-relationship between AfCFTA and effective democracy and good governance. The lecture also analyses the inextricable role of the private sector and stakeholders in pushing an all-inclusive process of negotiations arising from the AfCFTA agreements. It provides salient recommendations to African States, including the building of necessary institutions and development of a regulatory framework to ensure effective transition of the AfCFTA.

*Professor Ismail is the Director Designate of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance and Adjunct Professor at the Centre of Comparative Law in Africa (CCLA), University of Cape Town, and a TIPS Research Fellow

Green Economy Coaliation Blog: South Africa's natural capital challenge

For the full report, see Nature in South Africa’s Transition to Sustainability: A Stocktake.

Green Economy Coaliation Blog: Young, gifted and green in South Africa

This article has been drawn from a policy brief, Using the green economy and youth inclusion for sustainable development in South Africa.

Palesa Moitse is a Senior Specialist International Trade at the South African Revenue Service. She was previously Director Trade Remedies at the Internation Trade Administration Commission (ITAC). She has more than 15 years’ experience in trade policy formulation, legal drafting and the implementation of trade rules. This work has included multilateral WTO negotiations and committee work, regional trade negotiations and bilateral trade agreements. She was the lead negotiator for the Trade Facilitation Negotiation that was adopted in Bali December 2013.

Her academic background is BA in Law and LLB from the National University of Lesotho and an LLM in Banking and Finance Law, from University College London, University of  London.

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 case study is 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, Small Business Development in the Climate Change Adaptation Space in South Africa, which summarises the research findings on the topic, as well as six case studies on South African-based entrepreneurs active in the adaptation space: AB Farms, EWEF-SusTech, Loo Afrique, MySmartFarm, Waste Intrique, and Isidima.

Main report

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

Climate change adaption and small business – case studies

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

Media article: Mail & Guardian 7 June 2019

Tip for Cabinet: Bet on innovators 

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 case study is 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, Small Business Development in the Climate Change Adaptation Space in South Africa, which summarises the research findings on the topic, as well as six case studies on South African-based entrepreneurs active in the adaptation space: AB Farms, EWEF-SusTech, Loo Afrique, MySmartFarm, Waste Intrique and Isidima,.

Main report

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

Climate change adaption and small business – other case studies

Mogale Maleka and Tumelo Pule: Using hydrophonics to enhance food security

Bulelwa Ntsendwana: Harnessing chemistry for sustainable development and women empowerment

Wolfgang von Loeper: Sustainable farming – ensuring food security while preserving the planet

Tshego Mpete: Embracing green opportunities in the water sector

Media article: Mail & Guardian 7 June 2019

Tip for Cabinet: Bet on innovators 

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 case study is 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, Small Business Development in the Climate Change Adaptation Space in South Africa, which summarises the research findings on the topic, as well as six case studies on South African-based entrepreneurs active in the adaptation space: AB Farms, EWEF-SusTech, Loo Afrique, MySmartFarm, Waste Intrique, and Isidima.

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

Tshego Mpete: Embracing green opportunities in the water sector

Media article: Mail & Guardian 7 June 2019

Tip for Cabinet: Bet on innovators 

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 case study is 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, Small Business Development in the Climate Change Adaptation Space in South Africa, which summarises the research findings on the topic, as well as six case studies on South African-based entrepreneurs active in the adaptation space: AB Farms, EWEF-SusTech, Loo Afrique, MySmartFarm, Waste-Intrique, and Isidima.

Main report

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

Climate change adaption and small business – other 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

Media article: Mail & Guardian 7 June 2019

Tip for Cabinet: Bet on innovators 

The bulletin is a review of quarterly trends, developments and data in the real economy, together with analysis of the main manufacturing industries. Briefing notes in this issue are on The 2019 budget and industrialisation; and Unlocking the potential of renewable energy for public sector and communities. See The Real Economy Bulletin - Second Quarter 2020.