Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) will host its Annual Forum on Tuesday and Wednesday, 4 and 5 August 2026, in Johannesburg. The theme is: New directions in industrialisation and industrial policy in Africa.
The 2026 TIPS Forum seeks to explore the implications of the changing geopolitical and technological environment for industrial policy and economic development in Africa.
The Forum will have a hybrid format that enables mostly in-person presentations to engage a diverse virtual audience. It will provide a platform for high-level panel discussions between industry, civil society, policymakers and academics.
Authors are invited to submit an abstract of up to 500 words. To be considered, abstracts should be submitted by Friday 20 March 2026. Authors will be notified of the decision by Thursday 30 April 2026. Final papers are due for submission by Friday 10 July 2026. Abstract submissions should include full contact details of the authors.
If you wish to contribute, please submit the title of your paper and the abstract to Daphney Mabuza at TIPS via email to: dialogue@tips.org.za.
TIPS is partnering with, and receiving financial support for the Forum from, the DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChI) based at the University of Johannesburg. The Forum will be undertaken in association with the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic).
2026 Forum Context and Themes The past 15 years brought deep-seated structural changes internationally and across Africa that are shaping new directions in industrialisation and industrial policy. These changes include a levelling out in the world’s merchandise trade combined with slowing GDP growth overall; the rise of China as an economic and financial power; the climate crisis; and the changing role of service industries. More recently, a series of shocks have rocked global economics and politics. They include the COVID-19 pandemic downturn; the extraordinary jump in investment in AI data centres; the US Administration’s turn to unilateralism; shifts in geopolitics; and pressure for sustainable industrialisation.
Meanwhile, African countries, and South Africa in particular, continue to face the fundamental challenge of industrialisation. They need to diversify away from the colonial role as a supplier of raw materials with limited beneficiation, which left Africa largely locked into the low value parts of global value chains and dependent on old, often emissions-intensive technologies. In addition, South Africa still has to develop an industrial policy that both ensures competitive production and addresses the deep joblessness and inequality entrenched before 1994. The country’s unusually slow economic growth over the past decade has made this task even harder.
The TIPS Forum provides space to debate two central questions: How have the multi-facetted and far-reaching changes of the past 15 years affected African economies, and how are they likely to evolve in the coming decade? What are the implications for industrial policy initiatives – what needs to change, and what should be reinforced and scaled up?
The 2026 Forum will bring together academics, policymakers, civil society organisations, workers and practitioners to seek answers to these questions. The Forum will combine panel discussions with leading experts and stakeholders with presentations of mostly academic research in breakaway sessions. The introduction and keynote address will be followed by a panel that explores key issues for African industrial policy arising from the tumult of the past 15 years. The subsequent parallel sessions will consider academic analyses and responses selected through this application process. The final panel will discuss the implications for industrial policy in Africa over the coming decade.
The Forum offers the opportunity for collective critical analysis of possible solutions. This will consider related opportunities and challenges, and further actions. The call for proposals covers a range of themes, drawing out the implications for industrial policy in Africa and globally. They include how industrial policy is affected by developments in:
- World trade and its regulation, including the AfCFTA and the US approach to tariffs;
- The Chinese economy, as a key trading partner for the continent;
- World financial and commodity markets; The climate crisis and the energy transition;
- Pressure to green or decarbonise industry;
- Technological change and digitalisation, including AI and its new financing mechanisms;
- The rise in populist movements and other political developments in Africa and overseas;
- The role of public and private services in the national and global economy;
- Global South economic relations in the context of the geo/tech transitions; and
- The implications of the new approaches to industrial policy for economic growth and industrial development.
Broader papers on industrial policy, not directly linked to the theme of the 2026 Forum, will also be considered.
