OpenUCT :: Browsing by Subject "SADC"

Browsing by Subject "SADC"

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Open Access
An analysis of South Africa exports to the United States under the African Growth Opportunity Act
(2015) Chinembiri, Evans Wally Kudzai; Hartzenberg, Trudi
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a unilateral trade policy concession governing United States - Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) trade and investment relations. AGOA provides United States market access for 40 SSA countries, including South Africa. This piece of legislation has the fundamental objective of facilitating the global integration of SSA countries into the world economy by extending preferential access to the United States market for exporters from eligible countries. Over the past decade, AGOA has emerged as a topical issue as scholars and policy makers sought to understand its impact on SSA, especially South Africa. This has been awarded more impetus given its pending expiration in 2015. This, naturally, raised questions about the performance of United States preference programs (such as AGOA) as part of a larger ongoing debate on the form that United States preference programs may take in the foreseeable future. With South Africa facing a serious opposition to inclusion in the next shape of AGOA given the number of trade agreements South Africa has signed with countries that are competitors to United States in certain product categories. This study will seek to highlight the importance of the AGOA dispensation to South Africa, and through that analysis make a case for the continued inclusion of South Africa in the future trade dispensations that may develop. This study focuses on two research objectives; firstly, the study seeks to assess the extent to which increased preferential access to the United States market has translated into a real and tangible increase in exports from South Africa to the United States. Secondly, the study seeks to identify the areas where South Africa and the United States have high trade potential, and help make a case for inclusion of these high potential trade products in the next iteration of the AGOA dispensation. In achieving the first research objective, the study carried out a detailed trade statistics analysis with the hope of gaining greater understanding of the extent to which AGOA has influenced trade patterns between the United States and South Africa. South Africa's trade figures show that the United States is an important trade partner. A key conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis is the observation that a fair amount of growth in South Africa's exports to the United States is fundamentally characterized by two key aspects namely; growth in specific commodities and an export base that is becoming gradually concentrated over time. This implies that trade between South Africa and the United States is shifting towards a new focus in line with AGOA incentives and by extension one may conclude that South African firms are utilizing the market opportunities and the networks that enable them to effectively exploit the United States market. In fulfilling the second research objective, the detailed trade potential analysis that is propped up by a robust analysis of trade trends was carried out. The trade potential analysis identified thirteen commodity groups as having high potential for further exports into the United States market, and Pearls, precious stones and metals were identified as having the highest indicative trade potential, although the picture changes as the data is further disaggregated. This suggests that there is enormous potential and a great scope for export of pearls, precious stones and metals to the United States.
Open Access
Climate change and health in the SADC region
(2010) Young, T; Tucker, T; Galloway, M; Manyike, P; Chapman, A; Myers, J
The draft review examines the link between climate change and health with special reference to the Southern African region (SADC countries). It attempts to set the scene for determining pertinent research priorities in the region to contribute to knowledge on the one hand, and for identification, implementation and evaluation of adaptation interventions that are likely to be appropriate and effective in the region. This review has been conducted by Strategic Evaluation, Advisory and Development Consulting (SEAD), a health consultancy together with the COEHR, and is part of the Regional Climate Change Programme (RCPP) led by One World Sustainable Investments. While this is currently a research work which outlines research and development objectives, it is envisaged that much of the material reviewed is also suitable for inclusion in teaching - particularly postgraduate teaching at University Masters level.
Open Access
Compliance with regional courts judgments in SADC in the context of regional integration in Africa
(2025) Madala, Sithembele; Ordor, Ada
Existing research on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal focuses mainly on how it has interpreted its human rights jurisdiction. Extant research on the SADC occasionally notes that Zimbabwe has not complied with all the SADC Tribunal judgments issued against it, but without any detailed analysis of the actual role of the tribunal and the contributions of its decisions to human rights protection and the rule of law. Consequently, based on non- compliance with tribunal decisions by Zimbabwe, some scholars have erroneously concluded that the tribunal is ineffective. The proponents of this view theorise that the SADC Tribunal can only be effective if its judgments are complied with or if a strong enforcement system supports its judgments. Contrary to these claims, however, a growing body of literature on international adjudication shows that international courts (ICs) are important beyond measures of state compliance. Furthermore, like many ICs, the SADC Tribunal depends on the member states and SADC Summit for enforcement and compliance with its judgments. The SADC Tribunal constitutive instruments make it difficult to enforce SADC Tribunal. Another structural problem that is the fact that even when ICs interpret a coherent set of treaties, unlike a national legislator that can go back and amend the law and override the court's interpretation, it is more cumbersome or even impossible to amend the treaty that the IC interpreted especially if enough number of the parties like the court's interpretation. This is structural. Moreover, the court had a slow institutional setup which suggests that it was never intended to function as a supranational court but to act as an advisory organ to the SADC by giving advisory opinions on contentious disputes. This also explains why the SADC Summit is the final arbiter and principal organ with the power to enforce tribunal judgments against recalcitrant state. The other structural problem facing an international court such as the SADC Tribunal is that even if interpret coherent set of treaties, it cannot amend domestic laws or override domestic courts interpretation since SADC Treaty and Tribunal Protocol does not create supranational legal system and supranational courts such as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which has the power to override domestic laws and domestic court judgments that violate fundamental European Union (EU) laws. Therefore, the challenge with enforcement of tribunal judgments is structural and cannot be blamed on the tribunal. This thesis aims to evaluate the benefits and legal value of the SADC Tribunal beyond state compliance measures. It identifies and evaluates the multiple roles and functions of the tribunal, examines how it has performed these roles and assesses whether it has achieved its goals. This by no means suggests that compliance with the SADC Tribunal judgments is not essential. Rather, the thesis demonstrates that compliance is of limited use in explaining the tribunal's utility and importance. The research adopts goal-based and institutional design approaches to measure the utility of the SADC Tribunal by focusing on the institutional design of ICs and the multiple roles they perform to measure their institutional effectiveness. Drawing heavily on these approaches, the thesis concludes that the SADC Tribunal has performed its roles successfully owing to its institutional design, ratione materiae (subject matter jurisdiction) and jurisdiction ratione personae (personal jurisdiction). As an institution, the SADC Tribunal has achieved its intermediate goals of treaty interpretation and settlement of disputes. Beyond the intermediate goals set up by the SADC Tribunal's creators, this thesis showed the tribunal had achieved its ultimate goals of promoting human rights jurisprudence and developing SADC legal norms. Therefore, the SADC Tribunal has proven itself as an effective judicial institution that is ready to settle disputes between disputing parties. The prospects and potential of the SADC Tribunal should serve as a continuous incentive for reinstatement to its initial jurisdiction. These findings require some qualification, namely, as shown later in this research, that this does not mean that the SADC Tribunal decisions had significant impact at the domestic level. Rather, the evidence from this study indicates that the tribunal decisions had only marginal impact at the domestic level. This suggests that more effort must be made to mobilise civil society — including lawyers, human rights activists and domestic judges — to support the work of the SADC Tribunal. The evidence from this study intimates that it is through the efforts of such actors that tribunal judgments can have transformative impact in domestic courts.
Open Access
Determinants of Life Insurance Penetration in SADC
(2018) Nkotsoe, Leonard Motseakgosi; Alhassan, Abdul Latif
This study aims to investigate variables that impact on life insurance consumption in 15 Southern African Development Community member states, using panel data for the period 1995 to 2013. The macroeconomic and demographic variables employed in the research are income, inflation, financial development, urbanisation, education, health expenditure, age dependency, life expectancy, institutional quality (independent variables), and life insurance penetration (dependent variable) in Southern African Development Community member states. The study employed the fixed effects and system general methods of moments techniques to estimate the panel data. From the findings, it is concluded that the demand for life insurance varies for each model. Generally, fixed effects estimations reveal different outcomes for each model; variables such as inflation, health expenditure, age dependency, and voice accountability, are significant in explaining life insurance consumption in the Southern African Development Community region. The system general methods of moments estimator results uncover different outcomes: variables such as lag of life insurance penetration, health expenditure, age dependency, corruption control, and regulatory quality, are significant in explaining life insurance consumption. In general, the study concludes that there are positive/negative and significant/non-significant relationships amongst variables for demand of life insurance. The study then makes policy recommendations, that Southern African Development Community countries should advance the variables that influence the demand for life insurance, and that policies for the protection of life insurance growth should be developed to grow a healthy insurance sector.
Open Access
Enabling sustainable development through logistics: a case of Southern Africa
(2018) Fourie, Gerhard; Rogers, Steven
Africa, as a continent, requires rapid development in order to catapult the continent into developed status. As decision-makers on the continent acknowledge this, ambitious development goals have been put in place. This research study analysed whether logistics, and more specifically, transport logistics can contribute to sustainable development on the continent, and if so, in which ways and forms this can be implemented. The qualitative study focused specifically on the SADC region trade block within Africa. The research included a case study of a leader in the transport logistics industry. Interviews with the company’s management committee, as well as the management of its top five clients, have been conducted to form the basis of an explorative study. The findings of this study indicate that logistics can contribute to sustainable development within Africa. Three specific areas of impact have been identified, i.e. the role of logistics as enabler of trade on the continent, its contribution to the combat against climate change and its role in social development. The researcher considers the findings in this paper to be significant for sustainable development in terms of their potential value for use by decision-makers in incorporating logistics into their decision-making. More importantly, the potential significant impact that logistics can have on sustainable development, with the formation of strategic partnerships in achieving these development goals, has been highlighted.
Open Access
Exploring the livelihood strategies of unemployed black female migrant youth living in Cape Town, South Africa
(2020) Soko, Mumba Martha; Kubeka, Alvina
Unemployment among youth within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is one of the major factors that has contributed to migratory movements. Today many youths are leaving their home countries within the region, in search of employment opportunities in stronger economies like that of South Africa. However, the local unemployment rates hinder their chances of employment. This qualitative study explored the livelihood strategies of unemployed black female migrant youth living in Cape Town, South Africa. The study interviewed twenty unemployed black female migrant youth between the ages of 25 and 34 to understand their experiences and perceptions of a) factors or conditions that forced them to immigrate to Cape Town, b) challenges they encountered in trying to secure employment, and vulnerabilities experienced, and c) the livelihood strategies they employed and available social service support. The findings reveal that unemployed black female migrant youth have immigrated to Cape Town for various reasons including political instability, social influences, poor economic conditions, and social factors such as marriage and poverty in their home countries. When they arrive in Cape Town, they face many obstacles in securing employment because of either their nationality or documentation status. They are also vulnerable due to lack of basic needs, living in overcrowded homes, and being in informal settlements where they build temporary shelters. To overcome the challenges they face, they engage in different livelihood strategies such as accessing free government clinics or hospitals for their healthcare. They are dependent on their spouses for support and engage in part-time employment. Besides, they have had limited information about any government or non-governmental organisations that provide support for unemployed black female migrant youth. The need for well-established social networks for unemployed black female migrants, where they can be received and assisted in integrating into society through legitimate channels, is relevant. There need to be centres that offer free English-language training for migrants who are not conversant in English. Established non-governmental organisations or government agencies need to provide facilities that could assist undocumented immigrants who have prolonged their stay in Cape Town. There is also a need to establish support centres that specifically target unemployed black female immigrants. The South African government should enforce sensitization and educate the public and stakeholders about the legitimacy of asylum-seeker permits issued to immigrants. If implemented in conjunction with policy measures, this could increase black female immigrant youth's ability to secure employment. The enforcement of the development of entrepreneurial skills programmes, which specifically vi target unemployed black female youth migrants in Cape Town, is another potentially beneficial strategy.
Open Access
Regional integration in SADC: the role of BRICS countries
(2022) Hazar, Cenk; Chitonge, Horman
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of bilateral BRICS-SADC trade connections on SADC's regional economic integration. The issues that were explored included among others whether or not the SADC countries' trade relations with BRICS countries contribute to SADC's goal of promoting deeper regional economic integration. The impact of the trade relations with BRICS countries on the development of intra-SADC trade has been analysed, as development of intra-trade is one of the most important factors that can ensure economic integration of SADC region. This research applied the dependency theory in order to articulate what type of trade relationship exists between SADC and BRICS countries. This research was a desktop study that relied on existing secondary data gathered by the United Nations Comtrade. In order to engage with the issues of trade relations, the study explored how exported and imported goods between member countries are dealt with. The research therefore has analysed trading operations between BRICS nations and SADC countries through using data from the United Nations Comtrade database. The United Nations Comtrade database has been used as the principal source in analysing trading operations between BRICS and SADC states. Statistics of commerce within SADC countries as well as outwardly with BRICS are based on taking SADC countries as the reporting countries in the UN Comtrade trade statistics. While BRICS operations are expected to contribute to the growth of African countries, there appears to be substantial concerns about BRICS countries, particularly China, influence expanding in SADC region with several studies claiming that establishing economic contacts – particularly with China, has led to de-industrialisation in SADC. The region appears to be sliding more into large-scale reliance on resource exports thus creating deeper dependence on raw material or primary product exports. This study expounded the core argument that trade relations of SADC countries with those of the BRICS may actually be hindering the development of intra-SADC trade and ultimately SADC economic integration progress. This research found that BRICS countries' trade relations with SADC countries are not compatible with the specified targets for SADC regional economic integration. While Russia and Brazil are BRICS countries with low trade volumes within SADC region, China has the largest portion of bilateral trade with SADC region. This investigation also found that it is highly possible that trade with China and India has a negative impact on the domestic economic development of SADC countries especially their infant industries since it curbs the domestic industries' opportunities to achieve the expected benefits in the integration process. Another outcome of the analysis is that SADC intra-trade rate, which is already limited, remains extremely low if South Africa is excluded from intratrade statistics – pointing out that South Africa dominates trade within SADC region.
Open Access
Southern African Development Community Cybersecurity Maturity Report 2021
(Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA), 2022-03) Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA)
Cybersecurity has become a priority area in the digital age. The need for well thought-out cybersecurity policies has become even more apparent in a post COVID-19 pandemic world, where the internet is considered a critical resource for almost all aspects of life. Users, organisations, and governments access and offer services and products online and more than ever before. For this reason, there is need to ensure that information and users are safe online. To contribute to having a digital space that promotes the well-being and prosperity of all, it is important for countries to understand their cyber risks, threat, and vulnerability landscape before they can improve on their capacity to deal with cybersecurity. While there are various national and regional reports examining the cybersecurity status of various territories, understandings of regional cybersecurity capacity landscapes are lacking Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of this study is to evaluate the cybersecurity status of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and determine the capacity maturity of the region in light of emerging vulnerabilities, threats, and risks. SADC is one of the least explored regions concerning cybersecurity capacity. The study used the Cybersecurity Capacity Maturity Model for Nations (CMM) as an analytical and a benchmarking tool by means of which to evaluate the status of cybersecurity maturity in the region. The granular assessment of the CMM allows for specific regional policy recommendations for the different dimensions of the model with the aim of informing countries, with empirical evidence to take the necessary steps to increase the scale and effectiveness of cybersecurity capacity-building initiatives. This study used both published and unpublished previous CMM assessments conducted by C3SA partners, including the GCSCC, the World Bank, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations (CTO), which were available at various repositories. In addition, we reviewed other existing metrics and reports on the status of cybersecurity maturity in the region. The reports we reviewed include the NCSI by the e-governance academy foundation, the GCI by the ITU, academic literature such as published papers and grey literature, including regional reports and news articles. To fill any gaps on missing data, subject matter experts were identified and approached to provide more information through semi-structured interviews. The collected data was synthesised according to the relevant dimension for each country, which consequently allowed for a regional analysis based on the five dimensions of the model. Based on these findings, the report makes specific policy recommendations targeted at helping countries in the SADC region to improve their cybersecurity capacity. This report was compiled by C3SA researchers in collaboration with researchers from the GCSCC and NUPI.
Open Access
Tax-Spend or Spend-Tax? The Case of Southern Africa
(2022-04-06) Nzimande, Ntokozo Patrick; Ngalawa, Harold
Whether to increase taxes or cut spending is an important question with profound policy implications, especially as countries attempt to deal with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, therefore, investigated the relationship between revenues and spending in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where concerns about rising debt and deficits were raised prior to the pandemic. A panel bootstrap Granger-causality technique was used to analyze annual frequency data covering the 1980–2018 period. To our best knowledge, this was the first study in Africa to simultaneously account for cross-country differences and cross-section dependence. The findings of the study have in-depth implications for fiscal policy and adjustments towards budgetary equilibria. The study found no evidence of causality between revenues and spending in eleven SADC member states, suggesting that to balance their respective budgets, governments in these countries can alter either spending or revenues, or both. However, in Botswana, we found evidence of the tax-spend hypothesis, implying that governments should consider altering revenues to eliminate budget imbalances. Finally, evidence of the spend-tax hypothesis was found in Mauritius and Mozambique, suggesting that past and current expenditures drive revenues in these countries. Accordingly, cutting spending would be an ideal policy recourse to deal with budgetary disequilibrium.

Browsing by Subject "SADC"

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