Economic Research Southern Africa

Thirty years after democracy, South Africa’s labour market remains deeply strained. Despite major policy reform and rising educational attainment, unemployment remains among the highest in the world, with youth unemployment reaching 62.4% in early 2025. Racial and gender gaps in employment and earnings continue to shape economic inequality in South Africa. In this episode, ERSA’s host speaks with...

The upcoming G20 Summit in November is the first G20 Summit to be held on the African continent. This historical event marks the continent’s growing role in governance and focuses on the theme Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability. In today’s podcast ERSA’s host sits down with Olawunmi Ola-Basuri, the Political Impact Manager at ONE Campaign and Richmond Commodore, a Senior Economist at the African...

Industrial policy is once again central to global debates on economic growth and development. Governments worldwide are deploying new strategies to stay competitive amid geopolitical shifts, climate imperatives and rapid technological change. South Africa is no exception. The International Economic Partnership (IEP) Programme invites you to listen to a four-part webinar series on industrial policy...

Industrial policy is once again central to global debates on economic growth and development. Governments worldwide are deploying new strategies to stay competitive amid geopolitical shifts, climate imperatives and rapid technological change. South Africa is no exception. The International Economic Partnership (IEP) Programme invites you to listen to a four-part webinar series on industrial policy...

Industrial policy is once again central to global debates on economic growth and development. Governments worldwide are deploying new strategies to stay competitive amid geopolitical shifts, climate imperatives and rapid technological change. South Africa is no exception. The International Economic Partnership (IEP) Programme invites you to listen to policymakers and experts for a four-part webina...

Industrial policy is once again central to global debates on economic growth and development. Governments worldwide are deploying new strategies to stay competitive amid geopolitical shifts, climate imperatives and rapid technological change. South Africa is no exception. The International Economic Partnership (IEP) Programme invites you to listen to policymakers and experts for a four-part webina...

Thirty years ago, South Africa’s education system emerged from apartheid with a mission to dismantle entrenched inequalities. Since then, policy has undergone major reforms to promote equality, strengthen foundational learning, and smooth the transition from secondary school into the workplace. In today’s podcast, ERSA’s host is joined by Professor Martin Gustafsson, Associate Professor at the Uni...

Awaiting the outcome of a trade deal between the United States and South Africa, reciprocal tariffs of 30% are set to be imposed on South African exports on 1 August 2025. With the USA being South Africa’s second biggest bilateral trade partner, after China, these tariffs are bound to impact the automotive, aluminium and steel industries especially. Over 80% of all products exported by SA to the U...

In this podcast, ERSA’s host sits down with Brent Cloete and Bradley Kent, to discuss their research on environmental policy in South Africa: From 1994 till now – A Climate for Development. Since our democracy in 1994, South Africa’s approach to sustainable development has reflected the shifts in the global sustainable development framework. Where policy initially prioritized economic growth and s...

Since our democracy in 1994, South Africa’s competition policy has received positive international attention. The Competition Act of 1998 was ahead of its time, recognizing that credible competition law and effective structures are necessary for an efficient functioning economy. 30 years later, how has South Africa’s competition policy evolved? In this podcast, ERSA’s host sits down with Prof Will...

Shortly after the April MPR, ERSA’s host sat down with Dr Chris Loewald, the Head of the Research Department at the Reserve Bank, and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee to discuss inflation targeting amidst the increasing international trade tensions, global uncertainty and concerns of stagflation. As a relatively complex and small economy that trades with both advanced economies and emergi...

South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994 placed a fragmented, racially divided health system in the hands of the new ANC-led government. It quickly moved to transform the health administrations of 10 homelands and four provinces into a single national department and nine provincial departments, in line with the new constitution. However, thirty years later, South Africa still has a health sy...

Shortly after the long awaited 2025 Budget Speech, while US President Donald Trump is putting South Africa under the spotlight, ERSA’s hosts sit down with Dr Roy Havemann from the Bureau of Economic Research’s Impumelelo Growth Lab, to discuss the first Budget Speech under the newly appointed Government of National Unity, and his article co-authored with Claire Bisseker in the Business Day titled...

South Africa’s trade policy is at a crossroads and this was before the tumultuous trade war that US President Donald Trump started within a couple weeks of being in office. In a country where inequality is extreme, the impact of a more open economy on employment and poverty in important. As global dynamics shift and domestic priorities evolve, the country faces both significant challenges and unta...

In conventional monetary policy, the aim is to stabilise inflation by adjusting monetary policy tools, mainly interest rates. One regime that has grown in popularity is inflation targeting and average inflation in both emerging and advanced economies is lower after the adoption of this regime. Yet, emerging markets have relatively worse performance regarding the deviations in their inflation rates...

One month after COP28, we record our first podcast of 2024. As the global economy is becoming more mindful of climate change and the importance of reducing carbon emissions, we are reminded that South Africa is one of the most carbon and emissions intensive economies in the world. In this podcast, ERSA’s host sits down with Gracelin Baskaran, who is the Research Director and Senior Fellow for the...

Running up to the elections next year, this was a difficult MTBPS to deliver. The global environment is inflationary, and growth forecasts have been revised down with lower revenue expected from our largest trade partner, China. Following on from last week’s podcast, ERSA’s host is joined by Isaah Mhlanga, a Chief Economist and Head of Research at Rand Merchant Bank to discuss expectations from th...

This week, after much anticipation, the AGOA Forum was hosted in Nasrec, Johannesburg. It was attended by more than 30 ministers from Africa and the US. The theme of this year’s Forum is Partnering to Build a Resilient, Sustainable, and Inclusive AGOA to Support Economic Development, Industrialization and Quality Job Creation. In this podcast, ERSA’s host is joined by Gracelin Baskaran, who is the...

Prior to last year’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) there was a windfall in corporate income tax owing to a commodity boom. This year South Africa finds itself in a very different position. Not only has much changed internationally, but domestically despite fiscal consolidation efforts, there are many demands on a limited pool of funds. In this podcast, ERSA’s host, sits down with Isa...

Adopting a broader perspective of the macroeconomics of basic income support, this podcast captures the dynamic feedback mechanisms and trade-offs between redistribution, social relief and debt accumulation in the South African economy. Inspired by research in the Basic Income Support Research Project entitled “The macroeconomics of establishing a basic income grant in South Africa”, ERSA’s host s...

This podcast adopts a refreshing view on what Universal Basic Income means for South Africa. Joined by Kelle Howson and Zimbali Mncube from the institute for Economic Justice, ERSA’s host delves into a broader sociological view which allows the benefits of a universal basic income to be explored beyond the well-known economic constraints like affordability. Using evidence from a pool of literature...

In this podcast, ERSA’s host sits down with Prof. Nicola Viegi, the SARB  Chair of Monetary Economics from the University of Pretoria, to discuss what this year’s Economics Nobel Prize winners (Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig) discovered. As knowledge evolves, this research delves into the role of banks in the economy during a financial crisis, and why it is imperative to prevent a...

In this podcast we learn how EconData has solved a couple problems that many economic students, academics and researchers have encountered: firstly, the limited accessibility of South African macroeconomic time-series data, and secondly the inefficiencies related to cleaning a dataset, that someone else has most likely already done. Here, twoof the Codera Analytics and EconData co-founders, Daan S...

Post-pandemic, South Africa’s economy finds itself in a constrained fiscal environment yearning for economic growth. Without increased government spending, how can it rebuild itself in a way that reduces the uneven distribution of the pandemic’s burden? In this podcast, ERSA’s host is joined by Dr Channing Arndt, economist, head of the Environment and Production Technology Division (EPTD) at IFPRI...

After our new Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his first Medium Term Budget Policy Speech, ERSA’s host speaks to Isaah Mhlanga, a Chief Economist at Alexander Forbes and ERSA fellow, to reflect on the much-anticipated speech. Did the MTBPS build confidence among South Africans and how did markets respond? In this podcast, we learn more about our new Finance Minister; what makes him diff...