Past Projects
Trade and Industry
26 November 2018
Working paper: A developmental regionalism approach to the AfCFTA
This paper argues that adopting a “developmental regionalism” approach to trade integration provides the best prospects for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to catalyse the process of transformative industrial development, cross-border investment and democracy, governance, peace and security…
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Trade and Industry
12 November 2018
The Johannesburg health cluster
This research report is focused on the healthcare sector in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), in particular the medical devices sector and delves deeper to understand the problems faced by the sector and what would be required to leverage the…
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Trade and Industry
26 March 2018
Case study on the agricultural inputs regional value chain in Southern Africa: South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia
This research report aims to identify opportunities to develop the regional value chain in agricultural inputs, and the opportunities within that value chain for regional trade. It also aims to detail policy initiatives to be undertaken by the South African…
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Trade and Industry
The energy landscape in Southern Africa has been rapidly evolving over the last decades. An economy-wide transition to sustainability is underway, with energy at its core. In addition, a progressive movement of regional integration with numerous energy-related initiatives is taking…
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Trade and Industry
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23 January 2018
Case study on the forestry regional value chain in Southern Africa: South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania
This study provides an overview and analysis of the structure, key functions and characteristics of the forestry value chain operating in and among South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania in order to identify market opportunities and the interventions required to support…
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Trade and Industry
23 January 2018
Regional technical regulations and institutions: the role of standards institutions in unlocking value chains
Technical regulations refer to standards and compulsory specifications that apply to certain products and processes, and which can play an important role in regional trade. Firms that wish to trade in value chains need to be able to comply with…
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Trade and Industry
The paper begins with a broad contextual overview of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) transport and logistics performance in terms of the Logistics Performance Index and tracks the performance of individual member states in the decade from 2007. Two…
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Trade and Industry
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20 November 2017
Working paper: The crisis at Eskom and industrialisation
The current electricity model incorporates a paradox in which continual increases in price contribute to falling demand, which in turn leads to higher unit costs and prices. In this context, high levels of capital expenditure by Eskom have become a…
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Trade and Industry
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28 March 2017
Current heterodox industrial policy thinking: A muting of aspirations or sound, pragmatic suggestions?
The paper considers new heterodox theoretical contributions to the industrial policy debate in developing countries. Specifically it focuses on the challenge of “getting industrial policy right in circumstances where the country is run by flawed leaders presiding over a politically…
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Trade and Industry
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05 January 2017
Advancing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and Agenda 2063 in the context of the changing architecture of global trade
This paper reviews the state of play of the African regional integration agenda, inspired by the vision of the Abuja Treaty and Agenda 2063. It argues that the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiators should adopt a “development integration” approach…
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Trade and Industry
This working paper presents an analysis of the dominant and growing agri-food system in South Africa, focusing on power and governance as two key factors that critically influence system outcomes. Current approaches towards agricultural development (including food security) tend to…
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Trade and Industry
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13 November 2014
The geographic designation of Special Economic Zones
Special economic zones (SEZs) emerged internationally as a policy to support industrial development in particular by providing for the introduction of targeted incentives and infrastructure. Internationally, despite their name, they are often effectively delinked from specific geographic areas in order…
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Trade and Industry
Intra-Industry trade (henceforth IIT) has generally been perceived to be a feature of the industrialized countries. As the past few years have seen a rapid increase in Zambia's trade with its trading partners in the SADC, trade statistics reveal that…
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Trade and Industry
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This paper forms part of a broader research project TIPS has been involved in around common regional industrial policies. It provides an overview of key issues in global industrial policy literature. It begins with a brief examination of the link…
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Trade and Industry
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12 April 2012
Research Report 2011-04: Examples of industrial policy approaches within regional integration initiatives
This paper forms part of a broader research project TIPS has been involved in around common regional industrial policies. It looks at three examples of regional integration: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union and Mercosur. The…
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Trade and Industry
10 August 2011
TIPS Working Paper 01-2011: A Re-Examination of SADC Industrial Development Policies & Lessons for SACU
The absence of growth in intra-SADC trade in industrial products since the tariff phase-downs were initiated prompted by the ratification of the SADC Protocol on Trade in 2000 continues to generate interest amongst policymakers and other stakeholders as it appears…
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Trade and Industry
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This paper models tourist arrivals into Mauritius from various parts of the world with a view to understand the contribution of different determinants in explaining the success of the island as an international tourism destination. A dual methodological approach was…
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Trade and Industry
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01 August 2011
Research Report 2011-03: Negotiating Trade in Services Liberalisation , Reflections on SACU's Experience
For many of the African states, negotiations to liberalise trade in services is a relatively new phenomenon. For the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states, the only experience acquired on this subject was during multilateral negotiations in the context…
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Trade and Industry
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Evidence based policy making is critical for developing sound and relevant government policies. The process of evidence based policy making by definition allows one to monitor specific variables to determine the efficacy of a government intervention. Accurate data and sound…
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Trade and Industry
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This note highlights the pattern of South Africa, European Union and Asia trade over the period 1990-2009. The note pays particular attention to trade flow changes between South Africa and the EU and compares these to the changes in the…
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Trade and Industry
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16 June 2011
SADRN Working Paper: Botswana's Export and Competitiveness Policy and Non-Traditional Exporting Firms
The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First it is to review Botswana's competitiveness policy in the 10th National Development Plan, (NDP10 -2009-2016), National Export Strategy (2010-2016) and what are its conceptual foundations in the works of Michael Porter (1990).…
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Trade and Industry
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15 December 2010
15 Year Review - Trade
South Africa's trade policy has undergone much change as the country approaches its second decade of democracy. In particular, of more recent interest on the global sphere, and hence on the domestic front, have been the trade issues du jour,…
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Trade and Industry
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05 October 2010
South Africa's Current and Future Trade Agreements
This report takes a closer look at the trade and the trade agreements between South Africa and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners. Although the pace of unilateral trade reform has slowed, trade liberalisation has occurred through the negotiation of…
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Trade and Industry
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This report reviews the performance of the South Africa's agricultural sector over the past 15 years; with special emphasis on the period 2004-2007 and identifies the main agricultural policies and support instruments introduced since 1994. The report also assesses their…
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Trade and Industry
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This paper examines the pattern of trade between IBSA countries for the period 2001-2008. We find that trade between the countries has been on the increase. After the IBSA initiative was established in 2003, each country recorded a significant growth…
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Trade and Industry
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There is an increased recognition that actions to address climate change and the environment are intimately linked to economic growth and sustainable development goals and needs. Actions to promote increased resilience to climate change impacts and a lower greenhouse gas…
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Trade and Industry
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This paper proposes that non-temporary circular migration creates and sustains 'circular migration flows', which are the outcome of the continuous interaction between sending and receiving countries that is created and sustained by migration and by transnational networks. Circular migration generates…
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Trade and Industry
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24 January 2009
Working Paper 1-2009: Informality in Latin America: Interpretations, Facts and Opportunities
This paper deals with informality and its transition to modernity. The transit to formalization will enable those working in the informal economy to improve their chances of being included, become less vulnerable, and ensure a better performance of their activities.…
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Trade and Industry
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17 January 2009
Working Paper 2-2009: China's Evolving Industrial Policy Strategies and Instruments: Lessons for Development
This paper argues that perspectives characterizing the trajectory of China's economic reforms as “reversing course” are misleading by not recognizing the current stage of Chinese industrial development and the policy initiatives adopted to steer the country towards widely-stated national objectives.…
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Trade and Industry
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17 January 2009
Working Paper 5-2009: Exploring the COMESA-EAC-SADC Trilateral Free Trade Area: An Approach to Rules of Origin
The heads of states of the Common Markets for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Uganda in October 2008 to discuss broader objectives of the three regional…
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Trade and Industry
Market selection methods, of which a vast number exist, are a critical tool in firms' and government's policy, planning and budgeting processes. To this end, the primary aim of this paper is to determine the international market selection method best-suited…
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Trade and Industry
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This paper highlights ten key features of the Developmental State (DS) growth model by contrasting trends in economic indicators and institutions between China (and East Asia more generally) and South Africa. In light of the recent (and perhaps politically opportunistic)…
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Trade and Industry
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08 December 2008
The Impact of Rising Food and Fuel Prices on Small Business
TIPS was commissioned by FABCOS (The Foundation for African Business and Consumer Services) to undertake a study on the impact of fuel and food price increases on small business. As FABCOS has a large constituency of informal or previously informal…
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Trade and Industry
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The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been implementing the trade protocol for more than seven years. The aim is to liberalise trade flows between members and eventually lead to deeper integration in the region. As member states are preparing…
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Trade and Industry
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15 October 2008
Working Paper 4-2008: Balance of Payments dynamics, institutions and economic performance in South Africa: a policy-oriented study
SAIIA and TIPS have collaborated on a project investigating balance of payment dynamics issues in South Africa. Professor Andreas Freytag, who has a Chair of Economic Policy at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena in Germany, has been working with SAIIA and the…
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Trade and Industry
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This paper uses as its point of departure the recent demise of the world's largest financial institutions that set in motion the current global financial crisis. These financial institutions look set to re-evaluate their model of global finance and it…
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Trade and Industry
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No-one can dispute that electricity is an essential input to production and economic growth in South-Africa. Eskom, a wholly state-owned utility dominates electricity generation, it supplies approximately 95% of South Africa's electricity. The Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) has been facing…
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Trade and Industry
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This document has two objectives. First, it endeavours to capture the domestic clothing sectors major market and production trends, as well as broader dynamics. Second, these foundational elements operate as a mechanism to identify current clothing sector constraints and opportunities…
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Trade and Industry
The Motor Industry Development Program (MIDP) is widely regarded as a major success of South Africa's post-apartheid trade and industrial policies. The program was introduced in 1995, has been modified and/or extended several times, and is currently scheduled to continue…
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Trade and Industry
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As tariff barriers are reduced around the world, increasing attention has been paid to non-tariff measures. Although differing definitions exist of exactly what these NTMs are, let alone how their quantitative impacts are measured, they can basically be defined as…
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Trade and Industry
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13 April 2007
Trade Information Service 2005
One of the objectives of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is to develop capacitiesfor improving the export performance of businesses. To do so, the dti/TISA require easily accessible practical strategic and analytical tools for identifying growing markets…
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Trade and Industry
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As international tariffs are being reduced increased attention is being given to the role of non-tariff measures in impeding trade flows. The working definition of NTMs used in this report is “government measures other than tariffs that restrict trade flows”.…
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Trade and Industry
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11 April 2007
Analysis of Trade between South Africa and the EU and a Preliminary Attempt to Examine the Impact of the EU-SA FTA on Trade
This paper evaluates bilateral trade between South Africa and the EU over the past decade, where possible up to 2003. Structure of the Report: Part A: Aspects of trade and tariff patterns Basic trade flows between South Africa and the…
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Trade and Industry
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26 February 2007
SA/EU FTA: Mid-term Review
This paper evaluates bilateral trade between South Africa and the EU over the past decade, where possible up to 2003. Structure of the Report: Part A: Aspects of trade and tariff patterns Basic trade flows between South Africa and the…
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Trade and Industry
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02 February 2007
Do free trade agreements create trade for South Africa?
This paper by Prof. Merle Holden, head of the School of Economics and Management at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban and Landon McMillan, an economist at TIPS, supports the view that the EU-SA FTA stimulated both imports and exports, while…
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Trade and Industry
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Prof. Simon Roberts, previously the director of Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID) at the University of the Witwatersrand and now chief economist at the Competition Commission in this paper explains the importance for industrial development of technological capability development…
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Trade and Industry
02 February 2007
Regional Integration in Southern Africa: Volume 1 - South Africa's International Trade Diplomacy
Regional integration can be a key force for sustainable development. It can promote economic growth, reduce poverty, foster social development or protect the environment. But it can also have negative economic and social impacts, especially when the domestic regulatory framework…
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Trade and Industry
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02 February 2007
Trade at a glance
Description TIPS economist Mmatlou Kalaba prepares a quarterly snapshot of South Africa's trade with particular trade blocs around the world. Abstract Graphical representation of World trade and South African Trade, at a glance
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Trade and Industry
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01 December 2006
The State of Trade Policy in South Africa
The South African government and the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in particular have embarked on a policy framework to ensure that the SA economy becomes competitive. In an increasingly traded global economy, it is recognised that national…
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01 December 2002
The Economics Of SMMES In South Africa
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY South Africa has, since 1994, been faced with the double challenges of re-integration into global markets as a global economy, while at the same time positioning itself to realise the high expectations of its populace regarding…
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Trade and Industry
01 December 2002
SADC Rules of Origin: Impediments to Regional Integration and Global Competitiveness
The SADC Free Trade Agreement, which came into being at the beginning of 2000 is up for a mid term review during 2004. The agreement is characterised by complex and restrictive rules of origin. Using references to case studies, Frank…
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Trade and Industry