Linking Southern Africa into South Africa’s global value chains

Abstract

This study explores the potential for South Africa to become an engine for intraregional trade and industrial development by linking other Southern African countries to its global value chains and, in the process, improving its global trade competitiveness. The study identifies ‘lead products’ exported by South Africa, and then uses revealed comparative advantage and unit cost analysis to identify intermediate inputs in which Southern African countries have competitiveness to export that is currently untapped due to a lack of supply capacity or other factors. Such products are potential areas where regional investments could lead to the successful creation of regional value chains. The study also identifies ‘new markets’ for agricultural lead products exported by South Africa, which could open new opportunities for Southern Africa to supply intermediate agricultural inputs.