South Africa
Ten years after apartheid ended, South Africa still faces the challenges of reducing inequality and enhancing growth performance. The policies implemented so far have had somewhat limited results. In terms of growth, South Africa, grew by 2.2 per cent in 2001, from 3.4 per cent in 2000, mainly on account of a contraction in overseas demand that lowered export prices and volumes. However, the sharp depreciation of the exchange rate at the end of 2001 mitigated the slowdown of the economy, and growth is expected to be about 2.7 per cent in 2002 and 3 per cent in 2003, supported by buoyant exports, domestic demand and higher public investments. The positive expectations are, however, precarious as uncertainty and lack of confidence in the economy remain, fuelled by the political instability in neighbouring Zimbabwe, the delay in the privatization process, the high level of crime, and the handling of HIV/AIDS. These are among the main factors that determined the sharp depreciation of the rand in the second half of 2001 (when it depreciated by 34 per cent against the US dollar)…
La mise en œuvre réussie d’une politique économique saine bénéficie visiblement à l’économie ougandaise. Ce succès se manifeste par une croissance soutenue, une inflation lente et régulière, une progression du revenu par habitant et un net recul de l’incidence de la pauvreté. La croissance du PIB réel est restée alerte en 2001/02, à 5.6 pour cent, quoiqu’en léger repli par rapport à la moyenne annuelle de 6 pour cent enregistrée depuis 1994/95. Elle devrait se stabiliser autour des 5.7 pour cent en 2002/03, puis faire un bond à 6.3 pour cent en 2003/04. La prudence budgétaire a permis en Ouganda de continuer d’étoffer le budget de son programme de lutte contre la pauvreté, qui commence à porter ses fruits. Cependant, la situation budgétaire se caractérise depuis peu par un creusement du déficit, qui est financé par une aide extérieure massive, d’où la dépendance accrue du pays vis-à-vis des bailleurs étrangers. Ce déficit s’est aggravé en 2001/02, mais il devrait se contracter progressivement en 2002/03. La sagesse de la politique monétaire mise en œuvre par les autorités a ralenti l’expansion de la masse monétaire, ce qui contribue à atténuer les tensions inflationnistes, à comprimer les taux d’intérêt et à stabiliser relativement le cours du shilling...
One of the priorities set out in the Capital Flows Initiative of the NEPAD is to increase private capital flows to Africa, whereby providing African economies with longterm affordable and sustainable resources to finance their development. In this respect, lower debt costs may be of utmost importance in boosting investment and future output growth on the continent. This paper aims at identifying the determinants of South African currency premia — such premia usually form an important element of debt cost in developing countries — in order to assess the scope of South African economic policies for narrowing the spread on local-currency denominated debt. South Africa is one among very few emerging economies able to borrow long-term domestically and abroad in its own currency, the rand, and one of the few to have developed its domestic bond market fairly well. However, the rand nominal exchange rate has proved increasingly unstable and volatile over the last years. As a result ...
Corporate governance matters for national development. Studies of Brazil, Chile, India, and South Africa show that corporate governance has an important role to play in helping both to increase financial capital to firms in developing countries and to enhance those countries’ financial development as a whole. They further show that corporate governance matters can contribute greatly to achieving sustained productivity growth in developing countries’ real economies. The value of improved corporate governance for development cannot, however, be considered in isolation. In the financial sector, attention must also be given to measures to strengthen the banking sector and a country’s financial institutions as a whole. To gain most from improved corporate governance in the real economy, close attention must also be given to competition policy and to reforms of sector-specific regulatory practices. The book is for civil society, NGOs and research institutes.
L’un des éléments de la révolution pacifique de l’Afrique du Sud au cours de la dernière décennie est la réforme de ses institutions de politique de la concurrence. Le système précédent avait appuyé un régime économique caractérisé par l’autarcie, la protection, le dirigisme et une forte concentration. Le nouveau dispositif comporte deux grands axes : utiliser la politique de la concurrence pour corriger les défauts de l’ancien système et promouvoir les objectifs généraux d’emploi et de partage du pouvoir économique. L’Afrique du Sud aspire à un régime de politique de la concurrence moderne, à la hauteur d’une économie dont une bonne partie est bien dotée en ressources. Les nouvelles instances de la concurrence, répondant dans une large mesure à la nécessité d’opérer à partir de 1994 une restructuration fondamentale des institutions publiques, ont fait la preuve de leur capacité à traiter des questions structurelles complexes lorsqu’il s’est agi de se prononcer sur un grand nombre de fusions. L’extrême juridisme qui régnait dans l’administration et les entreprises a mis ces nouvelles instances au défi de prouver leur savoir-faire et a testé leurs prérogatives. Maintenant que la procédure d’examen des fusions a été mise en place, il conviendrait de prêter davantage attention aux questions autres que les fusions et, probablement aussi à la promotion de la concurrence. Les ressources sont limitées et il est crucial d’élargir et de renforcer les compétences du personnel professionnel. Pour maintenir une politique de la concurrence cohérente dans les secteurs régulés, il est indispensable de consolider les liens avec les organismes sectoriels de régulation ...
One of the elements of South Africa’s peaceful revolution over the last decade was reform of its competition policy institutions. The previous system had supported the previous economic system, characterised by autarky, protection, government direction, and high concentration. The new system promised to use competition policy to correct the faults of the old system and to promote policy goals of employment and empowerment. South Africa aspires to a modern competition policy regime, to deal with the well-resourced sophistication of much of the South African economy. Its new institutions, whose novelty responds in large part to the post-1994 imperative for fundamental restructuring of government institutions, have shown a capacity to deal confidently with complex structural issues in deciding dozens of merger cases. A legalistic business and government culture has challenged these new bodies to prove their competence and tested their jurisdiction. Now that the merger review process has been established, more attention should be paid to non-merger matters and probably to advocacy as well. Resources are stretched, and there is a critical need to improve the depth and strengthen the capacity of the professional staff. Maintaining consistent competition policy in regulated sectors will requiring reinforcing the relationships with sectoral regulators ...
The international mobility of highly skilled workers increased substantially in the 1990s. Most visible in professions connected with new information and communication technologies, it also became increasingly common among health professionals. In South Africa, in particular, where the migration balance has steadily deteriorated over the last fifteen years, the international mobility of health professionals has become an important issue. The factors that determine the international mobility of health professionals broadly ...
La décennie 90 a été marquée par un accroissement important de la mobilité internationale des travailleurs hautement qualifiés, particulièrement perceptible pour les professions en relation avec les nouvelles technologies de l’information et des communications, mais qui concerne aussi de plus en plus largement les professionnels de la santé. En Afrique du Sud, notamment, où on constate une détérioration progressive du solde migratoire au cours des quinze dernières années, la question de la mobilité internationale des personnels de santé a pris une importance considérable. Les déterminants de la mobilité internationale des professionnels de la santé ...
NOTWITHSTANDING APARTHEID’S LEGACIES of inequality and poverty, the South African government’s fiscal and monetary policies have been remarkably restrained. With low inflation, little indebtedness and a strong currency, the country is now in a favourable position to move more aggressively towards tackling its profound social ills, most crucially the pervasive unemployment. The government is increasing social spending and public...
This volume tests the relevance and usefulness of guarantees to public and private actors in developing countries, especially for funding development projects. Not to be confused with export credit guarantees usually accorded to nationals with the aim of stimulating exports and overseas investment, development guarantees are destined for actors in emerging or developing economies where risk is a deterrent to lending or investment.
The presence of guarantees from multilateral or bilateral agencies can encourage financial flows either to increase or to go where they otherwise might not. In this way, they can have a positive effect on sovereign ratings as well as their immediate direct effect on the local development environment. As a bonus, this study finds, development guarantees can help stimulate and stabilise local capital markets, thus providing future benefits for both public and private investors.
“A timely book, throwing urgently-needed light on this little-understood topic, which could be a vital key to economic progress in developing countries. With my deep congratulations to the author.”
--Michel Camdessus, Honorary Governor of the Banque de France,
formerly Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund)
Cet ouvrage évalue la pertinence et l’utilité des garanties accordées aux acteurs publics et privés de pays en développement, en particulier pour le financement de projets de développement. A la différence des garanties de crédit à l’exportation, qui sont généralement octroyées à des ressortissants nationaux afin de stimuler les exportations et les investissements à l’étranger, les garanties à l’appui du développement sont destinées à des acteurs de pays émergents ou en développement où le niveau de risque est tel qu’il décourage prêteurs et investisseurs.
L’existence d’une garantie émanant d’un organisme multilatéral ou bilatéral peut favoriser un accroissement des flux financiers ou inciter les capitaux à aller se placer là où ils n’auraient peut-être pas été autrement. Par ce biais, les garanties peuvent contribuer à améliorer la cote d’un pays, sans compter leur effet direct immédiat sur les conditions locales de développement. En prime, comme le montre cette étude, les garanties en faveur du développement peuvent contribuer à stimuler et stabiliser les marchés locaux des capitaux, avec les avantages ultérieurs qui en résultent pour les investisseurs, publics et privés.
« Ce livre apporte à point nommé un éclairage aussi urgent que nécessaire sur une des clés essentielles, bien qu'assez mal appréhendée, du progrès économique dans les pays en développement. J'en félicite profondément l'auteur. »
Michel Camdessus (gouverneur honoraire de la Banque de France, ancien directeur général du Fonds monétaire international)
Southern Africa suffers from disproportionately expensive capital and this is denying the region its full growth potential. This book presents the ideas and proposals of a group of experts and practitioners from the state and business environments, brought together by the OECD Development Centre with public and private sector partners, on reducing the cost of capital in the region. It thus provides a unique insight into the nature of the problem of the cost of capital in Southern Africa and the effects it has on business activity and infrastructure development. In addition, the authors set out to define strategies for reducing capital cost, outlining measures suitable for government and private actors.
"This collection makes a very worthwhile and stimulating contribution to the important question of reducing capital costs in Southern Africa."
-Ian Plenderleith, Southern African Reserve Bank
This article describes Algeria's Decree on Protection Against Ionising Radiation (2005), its Decree on Radioactive Waste Management (2005), and its Decree on Food Irradiation (2005). It also describes Armenia's Decree on Food Irradiation (2005), Belgium's Act Amending the 1994 Act on Protection of the Public and the Environment Against Radiation and Relating to the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (2005), Brazil's Decree on the National Defence Policy Including the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (2005), Finland's Nuclear Liability Bill (2005), France's Order on Professional Activities Using Raw Materials Containing Natural Radionuclides not Used for Their Radioactive Properties (2005) and its Order on the Organisation of a National Network to Measure radioactivity in the Environment and on Criteria for the Certification of Laboratories (2005), Germany's Act on the Control of High-activity Sources (2005), its Ordinance on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail (2005), and its Ordinance on Establishing a Prohibition to Alter the Conditions of the Subsoil Within the Gorleben Salt Formation (2005), Hungary's Decree on the Procedures of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority in Nuclear Safety Regulatory Matters (2005), Israel's Amendment to the Pharmacists’ Regulations (Radioactive Elements and Their Products) (2005) and its Import and Export Order (Control of Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Exports) (2004), the Republic of Korea's Act on Physical Protection and Radiological Emergency (2004), Poland's Regulation on Ionising Radiation Dose Limits (2005) and its Regulation on Positions for Ensuring Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection and on Radiological Protection Inspectors (2005), Portugal's Decree-Law Setting up the Independent Commission for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (2005) and its Decree-Law Establishing the Environmental Monitoring System of Radioactivity (2005), Romania's Order on Methodological Norms Regarding Planning, Organisation and Intervention in the Event of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (2005) and its Order Approving Generic Procedures for Data Collection, Validation and Response During a Radiological Emergency (2005) as well as its Order on the Norms Regarding the Release of Radioactive Effluents into the Environment (2005), Slovenia's Regulation on Requirements for Workers in Nuclear Installations and Radiation Facilities (2005) and its Regulations on Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials, Nuclear Installations and Radiation Facilities (2005), South Africa's recent regulatory developments in the nuclear field, Sweden's SKI Regulations on Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities (2005) and Guidance for Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste (2005), Switzerland's Draft Act on Nuclear Third Party Liability (2005), Ukraine's Regime of nuclear installations, and the United States' Energy Policy Act (2005) and its Amendments to the Price-Anderson Act (2005) on nuclear third party liability.
This chapter is aimed at presenting and discussing the main features of terrorism risk coverage schemes implemented in selected Non-Member Countries, in the broader context of the current debate on the respective potential roles of insurance companies, financial markets and governments in the coverage of terror-related losses. The focus of the analysis, in particular, will be placed on the current situation in South Africa, in Israel and in the Republic of India. These countries, in fact, with their peculiarities and specificities, offer a good sample of different types of institutional arrangements.
The South African economy, including agriculture, is increasingly integrated in world markets with about one-third of agricultural production exported. Wide ranging reforms liberalising domestic and foreign trade, and lowering support to agriculture were implemented in the 1990s. This first comprehensive OECD review of agriculture in South Africa assesses agricultural policies in the context of liberalisation reforms taken, new market pressures, land reform, and Black Economic Empowerment measures and makes a series of policy recommendations.
En 2005, le PIB sud-african devrait avoisiner 5 pour cent – son niveau le plus élevé depuis la fin de l’apartheid – et conserver un rythme alerte en 2006, à 4.8 pour cent. Bien que cette bonne performance soit en partie due à un contexte international favorable, elle reflète également la qualité des politiques économiques déployées depuis 1996 dans le cadre de la stratégie pour la croissance, l’emploi et la redistribution, la GEAR (Growth, Employment and Redistribution). La politique monétaire responsable s’est révélée fructueuse, avec une inflation stable (à peine 4.5 pour cent en 2004) et de faibles taux à court terme. De même, la prudence budgétaire a permis la maîtrise du déficit, qui se limitera probablement à 0.5 pour cent du PIB sur l’exercice 2005/06. Ces mesures...
In 2005, the South African economy experienced GDP growth of 5 per cent, its highest since the end of apartheid, and strong GDP growth, estimated at 4.8 per cent, is forecast for 2006. Although this good performance is due in part to a favourable international environment, it also reflects the sound economic policies that have been carried out since 1996 in accordance with the Growth and Employment and Redistribution...