In 2005, India introduced the world's first employment guarantee, creating new meaning for the concept of a right to work. This is achieved through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, established through an act of parliament (NREGA), which gives every rural household the right to demand 100 days of employment…

The five-day programme will encompass participants' paper presentations, guest lectures, professional development roundtables and social events. Participants also have the opportunity to apply their insights and skills in a practitioner day with the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva. Application To allow in-depth discussions the oikos…

Climate and trade issues lie at the intersection of two of the world's most contested, delayed and important multilateral negotiations. Climate change under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and international trade as regulated…

Call for papers: TRAPCA is therefore calling for papers addressing the following themes for the Trade policy Forum 2011. 1) The Turn towards Regional and Bilateral Agreements This session will track the trend towards regional and bilateral trade agreements and seek to account for their rise and consider its implications…

In the face of a long-standing unemployment crisis that increasingly threatens social and economic stability, employment has at last taken centre stage in South African policy, and with this, focus is shifting to the structural constraints on employment creation within…

David Kaplan is currently Professor of Business Government Relations and Professor of Economics at the University of Cape Town. He has worked extensively on industrial policy. From 200 – 2003 he was chief economist of the Department of Trade and Industry; From 2004 -2011 he worked part time as chief economist for the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, in the Western Cape Provincial Government. His work on innovation includes being the coordinator of the task team that produced the Green Paper on Science and Technology (S&T), December 1996; engaging in the White Paper on S&T, June 1996; panel member…

For many African states, negotiations to liberalise trade in services is a relatively new experience. Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC) member states are set to negotiate services at several levels – regional, bilateral, multilateral and even at…

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…

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…

This research attempts to assess the attitudes of residents towards the perceived tourism impacts on their lives and communities in selected tourism coastal villages in Mauritius. A survey was used to examine residents' attitudes toward tourism development. The survey results show that tourism is a major pillar of the economy.…

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…

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…

Southern African Development Community (SADC) members signed the Trade Protocol in 1996, however progress in the region to reap the benefits purported to accompany regional economic integration appears limited. Although SADC has adopted a growth and development through trade strategy, indications are that more needs to be done to implement…

The quest for new sources of energy away from traditional petroleum products has in recent times led to the development and use of biological material (biomass). As the name suggests, biofuels are developed from organic materials. Thus an increase in the price of oil has also increased demand for biofuels,…

The objectives of financial sector reform in Uganda were interest liberalisation, reducing directed credit, improving prudential regulation, privatisating financial intermediaries, reducing reserve requirements, liberalisation of securities markets and pro-competition measures. Interest rate liberalisation focused on positive interest rates, with rates linked to the weighted average of an auction-based treasury bill,…

In 1997 the EU introduced a requirement that beef imports be traceable through a computerised system. To ensure continued access to the EU market, Botswana introduced the livestock identification and traceback system (LITS). The objectives  of this study are to estimate the costs associated with implementing the system and determine…

There is increasing evidence that export diversification is linked to growth. However, possibly less than 10 African countries show signs of export diversification, with manufacturing making up at least 25% of total exports. Botswana and Zambia are both heavily reliant on primary commodity exports. In Zambia, the dominance of copper…

In their quest to achieve higher economic growth and development African governments have experimented with different growth and industrialisation models. Prominent among these is the import substitution industrialisation (ISI) model adopted after gaining independence in the 1960s and 1770s. It is widely believed that the ISI model failed, and after…

Maize is the most important staple cereal consumed in the Southern African region. Global warming and accompanying increased volatility in rainfall, rising populations and the shift to maize-fed biofuels pose risks of substantial price increases in the future that may affect food security. The general view is that a combination…