Research

The South African Government has identified private sector participation as vital for reviving rail. This is reflected in policy. A review of private sector participation in rail and other industries in Africa indicates that friendly...

This study aims at developing a strategic plan for performance improvement in South African container ports. To do so, the paper first reviews recent work and literature on the performance of South African container terminals...

A cornerstone of rail improvement in South Africa is the development of a road-to-rail strategy for both freight and passengers. The report proposes road-to-rail strategies for both freight and passengers to assist identifying key next...

We use a fiscal incidence model based on the South African 2014/15 Living Conditions Survey to simulate the poverty reduction impacts of a selection of medium-to-long-term social grant options with the goal of replacing the...

This paper analyses the macroeconomic effect of legislated personal income tax changes in South Africa over the 1996–2019 period. We identify personal income tax shocks using a narrative approach and incorporate these shocks in a...

Debt-financed fiscal stimulus programmes directly stimulate aggregate demand through government expenditure or tax cuts, but their effectiveness is highly dependent on direct crowding out of private sector expenditure, spillover effects to the private sector through...

This paper investigates the business environment in sub-Saharan Africa. Previous studies show that the ease of doing business is associated with economic growth as it affects the level of business. This study aims to examine...

Financial inclusion is considered a vehicle to inclusive growth and thus critical in addressing the three key socioeconomic ills of modern society—particularly in Southern Africa: poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Being excluded from the financial services...

This paper analyses interconnection in telecommunications markets in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, focusing on cross-border roaming as well as international interconnection. These issues have been identified as critical for cross-border integration and...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe economic consequences in Southern Africa, resulting in an unprecedented decline in production and employment. Similar policy responses have emerged across the region, centred on temporary and inadequate relief for...

How does centralized bargaining affect the broader wage structure? And what does this tell us about the (non-)competitive dynamics of such labour markets? I study large contracted wage increases negotiated by centralized bargaining councils in...

Effective competition in the Southern and East African regions requires independent rivals competing across borders and within domestic markets through innovation and effort, investment, product quality, and prices. To understand the constraints to more dynamic...