Technical regulations lay down compulsory requirements for product or service characteristics or their related processes and production methods. They have specific administrative provisions and conformity assessment requirements with which compliance is mandatory for safety, health, environmental control and consumer protection. The capacity to comply with international standards, norms and technical regulations underpins the…

Policy interventions at national and international scales are driving efforts to simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide sustainable socio-economic improvements. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one such policy instrument implemented through the Kyoto Protocol under the international climate change regime. Questions remain particularly around how socio-economic development can…

Project name: Evaluation of South Africa's Integrated Resource Plan Client: National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) Funder: Nedlac Trade and Industry Chamber Duration: 2014 Summary Energy, and electricity issues in particular, have been high on the South African agenda since the…

Project name: The impact of electricty price increases on the competitiveness of selected mining sector and smelting value chains in South Africa  Client: Economic Development Department (EDD) and Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) Funder: Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Duration: 2013-2014 Summary…

Introduction to Economy-wide Modelling for Policy Analysis 2 - 6 November 2015   Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) is pleased to announce a workshop on Introduction to Economy-Wide Modelling for Policy Analysis, to be held in Pretoria from 2 – 6 November 2015.   For details of the workshop,…

Introduction to Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Modelling with GAMS 9-13 November 2015   Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) is pleased to announce a workshop Introduction to Computable General Equilibrium Modelling with GAMS, to be held in Pretoria from 9-13 November 2015.   For details of the workshop, see the…

This Working Paper is drawn from research by TIPS prepared for the Global Green Growth Institute, the Economic Development Department and the Department of Trade and Industry. The research explored the impact of electricity price increases on the competitiveness of…

Repositioning electricity planning at the core: An evaluation of South Africa's Integrated Resource Plan Gaylor Montmasson-Clair Background: Energy and electricity issues in particular have recently been high on the South African agenda. Beyond immediate near-term considerations, reviewing the current electricity planning process is both a timely and necessary exercise. This review, based…

You are invited to the Pretoria launch seminar of   The Oxford Companion to the Economics of South Africa   Edited by: Haroon Bhorat, Alan Hirsch, Ravi Kanbur and Mthuli Ncube   52 entries by leading economists from within and working on South Africa bringing together perspectives on a range…

Session 10: Agricultural value chains in the region

Session 10: Agricultural value chains in the region This paper examines the reasons for the growth in the poultry industry in Malawi in the past 10 years. 

Session 9: A regional collabroation: Different approaches There is long-standing, wide consensus on the need for greater economic connectedness in Africa. Despite the rhetoric and apparent policy consensus, implementation of related commitments lags seriously. The lack of progress towards the free movement between national markets of goods, services, people and…

Session 9: A regional collabroation: Different approaches This paper reports on the results of an investigation into the contribution of cooperative management of water resources to regional integration in SADC. The study found that, while a few bilateral projects had contributed to economic development, there was little evidence of a…

Insights into the manufacturing sector: Outcomes of the latest quarterly Manufacturing Bulletin The quarterly manufacturing bulletin is an initiative of the manufacturing circle. It serves to provide an analysis of trends in the South African manufacturing sector. The focus of this development dialogue will be to present the second quarter,…

Session 8: Agricultural value chains in the region This paper expands a case study by Emet Consulting for the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in 2014. The case study (Regulatory Constraints to the Development of a Fuel Ethanol Market in SADC) was a component of a project funded…

Session 8: Agricultural value chains in the region Fertiliser is a key input for commercial agriculture. However, there is generally low fertiliser use in Sub-Saharan Africa and hardly any production of fertiliser in countries in Southern and East Africa, aside from South Africa. Studies have emphasised the importance of transport…

Session 8: Agricultural value chains in the region Paper to follow

Session 7: Minerals value chains: Upstream and beneficiation This paper presents key trends in the global value chain for mining capital equipment. It includes a section on the background of the South African and Zambian mining inputs clusters. It maps the regional value chain for mining capital equipment and presents…

Session 7: Minerals value chains: Upstream and beneficiation Copper, as Zambia's economic mainstay, is a mineral whose value chain stretches beyond the country's Copperbelt Province and the recently acclaimed “New Copperbelt” Northwestern Province. The Copperbelt Province as the mining hub has several industries benefiting from both upward and downward linkages…

Session 7: Minerals value chains: Upstream and beneficiation South Africa has the profile of a modern economy with well-developed financial, commercial and industrial sectors, yet mining remains an important base of the economy. Mining is dependent on physical infrastructure, such as rail, energy and water, that is provided by the…