Business Day - 28 February 2017 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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This policy brief provides context for technical regulation in the region. It then offers some cross-cutting solutions for developing monitoring mechanisms that can allow policymakers to identify problem areas, and some specific interventions for the Standards, Accreditation and Metrology functions that can build capacity at low cost. It provides some recommendations for a practical agenda on reducing Technical Barriers to Trade in the Southern African Development Community – ones that can be executed with minimal cost, and that improve the institutional capacity of regional organisations to grapple with the complexity inherent to the field. Above all, these regulations will need to be carefully attuned to assure that they provide the maximum protection for the region from dangerous substandard imports, while still allowing for a dynamic, mutually beneficial trading relationship.

Mail & Guardian - 3 February 2017 by Lisa Steyn

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Business Day - 14 February 2017 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a non-reciprocal preferential trade programme that the US offers to 49 sub-Saharan African countries. President Obama's decision to extend AGOA, which was set to expire at the end of September 2015, for another 10 years (2015 to 2025), was highly controversial. The Extension and Enhancement of AGOA Act, signed into law by President Obama on the 29 June 2015, had thus included many new provisions to incorporate the views of the US Congress on the implementation of the 10-year extension and the future trajectory of AGOA.

In this paper, the Extension and Enhancement of AGOA Act is analysed to elucidate the new and additional powers that the new AGOA Act provides the US Congress, the US Administration, and US business lobbies, and the implications of these changes for sub-Saharan African countries. At least three new trends in the 2015 AGOA Act can be identified: payment for preferences, institutional attrition, and a shift to reciprocity. These trends, it is argued in this paper, are potentially contrary to a more mutually beneficial relationship between the US and Africa. The paper offers some reflections on the future of AGOA.

Read online: AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act of 2015, the SA–US AGOA negotiations and the Future of AGOA

Numerous discussions are being held throughout the country on the alignment of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the National Development Plan (NDP), and how this alignment could be reinforced through the domestication of the SDGs and associated indicators.

To foster further multi-stakeholder discussions, the South Africa-European Union (SA-EU) Sustainability Transition Dialogue is supporting the organisation of five multi-stakeholder workshops to be hosted in different locations in the first half of 2017.

The SA-EU Sustainability Transition Dialogue is organised in partnership with the The SA-EU Dialogue Facility, the Departments of Environmental Affairs, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Science and Technology, and in collaboration with Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS), the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

The discussions will focus on the implementation of both the NDP and the SDGs and, specifically, on the most appropriate metrics and indicators that could be used to track the progress of South Africa’s transition to sustainability.                                                                                                     

The workshops are as follows:

Workshop 1: 23-24 February 2017 (Mannah Guest Lodge, 39 Pomona Rd. Pomona, OR Tambo Int, Gauteng – closing date for expression of interest is 17 February 2017)

Workshop 2: 16-17 March 2017 (Limpopo – venue to be decided)

Workshop 3: 18-19 April 2017, alongside the SEED Symposium (Diep in die Berg, Pretoria, Gauteng)

Workshop 4: 4-5 May 2017, alongside World Economic Forum (KZN, Ethekwini – venue to be decided)

Workshop 5: 3rd or 4th week June 2017 (Western Cape ­– venue to be decided)

The workshops aim to facilitate an exchange of information between the South African and EU stakeholders.

You are invited to express your interest in participating in the workshops. Expressions of interest should be sent to the logistics team: ron@majorproductions.co.za

For any technical queries, please contact:

Mapula Tshangela: MTshangela@environment.gov.za or

Anna Mampye: AMampye@environment.gov.za.

Business Day - 31 January 2017 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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Baba-Tamana Gqubule: Baba has a Masters in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and a Bachelor of Economics Honours degree from Rhodes University. She has experience as a Policy Analyst at the Economic Development Department.
 
Xhanti Payi: Xhanti has worked as an analyst at Investec Wealth & Investment, an Economist at Stanlib Asset Managers and was a Country Risk Manager at Standard Bank (CIB). Payi studied at UCT and the University of London. Currently, Payi is the MD at Nascence Advisory & Research, a strategy consulting and research outfit.

Christopher Wood: Chris is a TIPS economist focusing on trade and industry policy. He previously worked as a researcher in economic diplomacy at the South African Institute of International Affairs.
 
Kelello Mashiane: Kelello is a researcher at TIPS. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UNISA, and worked as a research assistant at the Economic Development Department, where she worked on several data collection projects and provided research support to the Chief Economist.
 
Moleboheng Ntene: Moleboheng is a Senior Economist at the South African Reserve Bank in the Economic Research and Statistics Department (Balance of Payments division). She is primarily responsible for monitoring financial account flows and conducting other research related to the balance of payments. She has a Masters Degree in Economic Development and Policy Issues from the University of Johannesburg. 

Date: Wednesday 8 February 2017      

Time: 13h30 – 16h00

Venue: TIPS Boardroom, 234 Lange St, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria

RSVP by email: Daphney@tips.org.za to confirm attendance.

Business Day - 17 January 2017 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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Presentation and Panel Discussion:

Background

The importance of exporting to the US for any developing country cannot be downplayed. Exports to the largest economy in the world along with various support measures has been of cruciall importance to countries such as Japan and South Korea during their industrialisation, more recently for China. The Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) recognises the potential benefits of the US market and is a mechanism to encourage African economies to export into that market. While AGOA is a unilateral agreement by the US it gives benefits to the recipient countries and also is a means to encourage investment by US firms into Africa. The potential to support industrial development is therefore significant and is part of the motivation to extend AGOA by 10 years. Outside of the oil exporters, South Africa is the largest exporter through AGOA. South Africa exports value added products including automotive components and vehicles through AGOA. The recently adopted AGOA, however, specifically required a review of South Africa, mainly as a result of the requirement for poultry and pork imports from the US into the country. The poultry issue has been resolved and a number of compromises reached. The threat of the provisions of the Act that could exclude South Africa still remain. The benefits of South Africa being part of AGOA are applicable to both South Africa and the US,; it is therefore desirable on the side of both countries to find the compromises that would enable that.

　
The TIPS paper to be presented also forms part of a research project undertaken for NEDLAC.

PRESENTERS:

Faizel Ismail: Dr Faizel Ismail is an Adjunct Professor at the UCT School of Economics and a TIPS Research Associate. He has previously been an advisor to the dti on International Trade and Special Envoy on the African Growth and Opportunity Act and served as the Ambassador Permanent Representative of South Africa to the WTO (2010-2014).

Malose Letsoalo: Malose is the Director of Americas Bilateral Trade Relations in the International Trade and Economic Development Division (ITED) of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti).

Christopher Wood: Chris is a TIPS economist focusing on trade and industry policy. He previously worked as a researcher in economic diplomacy at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Tinashe Kapuya: Tinashe is the head of international trade and investment intelligence at the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz).　

Date:    Tuesday 24 January2017
Time:    13h30 – 16h00
Venue:  TIPS Boardroom, 234 Lange St, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria 
                                                                                                                                       

RSVP by email: natasha@tips.org.za to confirm attendance.