Public Platforms

The acceleration of climate change and the rollout of ‘green standards’ and policies pose diverse opportunities, challenges, and risks to developing countries including South Africa. The uncertainty of the opportunities further presents threats and challenges to South Africa’s green re-industrialisation agenda.   This workshop will report on the work of the Industrial Development Think Tank (IDTT) around climate change, ‘just’ transition, and structural transformation, as well as provide reflections from a broader range of stakeholders around these issues. The workshop

CCRED invites you to a launch event on 2 December 2020 to    Celebrate the appointment of Acting Judge and former Competition Tribunal Chair Norman Manoim as Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, and Launch the book Opening the South African Economy: Barriers to Entry & Competition edited by Thando Vilakazi, Sumayya Goga & Simon Roberts   The book assesses the challenges facing entrepreneurs and how they can be overcome through in-depth case studies focused on selected markets and

Join AJ Norman Manoim as he delivers a Masterclass on the interpretation of economic issues in competition law in line with the goals of efficiency, consumer welfare and public interest.  AJ Manoim will unpack how courts apply the law, and the difficulties they face in applying the law, to solve economic problems. He will also draw on the role of competition regulation in the time of COVID-19. This Masterclass forms part of the lecture series in the Advanced Economics of

The importance of cheap, high-quality telecommunications services for economic development and growth are frequently stressed by policymakers, as is the need for greater regional integration and cooperation in Southern Africa. The link between the two is less well understood. Better, cheaper telecoms services can facilitate regional trade and integration, while cooperation between policymakers and regulators across countries to share learnings and best practice can assist in ensuring effective, pro-competitive policies and regulations which allow the sector to thrive and consumers to benefit.

The new Competition Amendment Act, which comes into force on the 20th anniversary of the Competition Act, has changed the face of traditional competition law in South Africa in several ways. The Amendment Act includes a more explicit focus on inclusion, particularly of black owned businesses and SMEs, it specifically aims to address the buying and selling power of dominant firms, and it empowers the authorities, through market inquiries, with powers to break up firms if the markets in which

Since the 2012 Marikana killings there has been a boom in scholarship about labour relations in the South African mining sector, focused primarily on the ability of workers to organise and the role of state violence in policing strikes. Quality of life issues in mining communities are usually explored only insofar as they affect these labour relations. This focus is incomplete, because it ignores the way that services and infrastructure in mining communities affect local residents who have no formal

A Public Lecture to be presented by Professor Stefano Ponte, Professor of International Political Economy at the Copenhagen Business School. Professor Ponte is currently also a Distinguished Visiting Professor within the School of Economics of the College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg.   DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT AND THE CHANGING DYNAMICS OF GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS   Technological and organizational changes have been crucial in transforming the way in which production is organized across time and space.

Industrial Development Think Tank Public Lecture by Prof Antonio Andreoni and Prof Fiona Tregenna Thursday, 6 September 2018 (16:00 – 17:15) Benchmarking South Africa against international industrial performances and policy experiences offers an opportunity to identify those countries facing similar challenges and assess the extent to which their policy responses are feasible in the South African context, both from an economic and political economy perspectives. In this lecture two leading economists analyse the major global structural transformation underway in the

Strong growth in global demand for fresh fruit presents opportunities to grow exports, increase participation of emerging black farmers and create employment. However, challenges of market access and readiness, particularly phytosanitary standards, limited technical skills and capabilities, including logistics bottlenecks, limit this potential. Addressing these challenges is important for shifting agricultural production towards high-value products, which is necessary for promoting re-industrialisation in agriculture and agro-processing value chains. While South Africa has successfully tapped into the global demand for citrus, becoming

Most countries that have managed to reach high levels of economic and social development have done so by advancing their industrial sectors. However, industrialisation patterns currently coexist with profound disparities in economic performance across countries, regions and communities; as well as unsustainable environmental practices and effects. This panel will discuss various ways in which innovation can support and be a driver of inclusive and sustainable industrialisation. The panellists will refer to ongoing efforts taking place: (1) at the ‘Community of

Join the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) and Political Economy Southern Africa (PESA) to the following Africa Day public platform:   The African Continental Free Trade Area: Aspirations vs Reality   The signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) symbolises an important milestone in the integration of African countries since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1964 – now the African Union. The CFTA constitutes one of the various regional arrangements intended

The trajectory of South Africa’s industrial development has centered on the mining, metals and energy value chains, which has historically been characterised by very strong intra-sectoral relationships. The mining and basic metals industries were beneficiaries of favourable electricity tariffs, investment and logistics support aimed at promoting its competitiveness. Subsequently, the post-apartheid state has grappled with how to engage with the main companies (such as ArcelorMittal), including in responding to global developments. At the same time, there have been confusing signals

Over the past two decades the global industrial landscape has been reshaped by profound structural and technological transformations. The rise of new industrial powers, China in particular, has led to the restructuring of global production systems and the reorganisation of production cycles, as well as changes in global trade patterns. While approaches adopted in different countries and policy targets vary, reflecting their respective contexts, there is some evidence of a convergence on the effectiveness of particular packages of policy interventions,

The Competition amendment Bill has sparked debate on the role of competition in delivering increased participation and economic transformation. This is not surprising given that the nature of competitive rivalry and the identity of market participants are central to the quality of growth that can be achieved. However, there is a danger in seeing the Bill as a silver bullet for addressing concentration and reducing barriers to entry. Though the competition authorities have been successful in uncovering cartels and prosecuting

The accompanying motivation for the Competition Amendment Bill sets out the important rationale for the legislation in terms of the role for competition policy in addressing concentration and exclusion. The relationship between the legal provisions and the economic outcomes is thus critical to considering the proposed amendments. Do the amendments go far enough to address the challenges set out? On the other hand, do the amendments represent over-reach, addressing issues for which competition law is ill-suited and where other policies

Agreeing upon and sustaining cartel outcomes requires some form of communication between competitors. The role of information exchange in dampening competition or facilitating cartel conduct is a contentious topic and one that the Competition Commission continues to face as firms find more creative and sophisticated ways to collude. Given the history of pervasive cartel activity in many concentrated sectors in South Africa, information exchange that increases transparency and allows rivals to coordinate and monitor each other’s strategic market actions and

The Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development invites you to the following public platform: “Ownership, control and investment in South Africa – 23 years on” The investments and decisions of large firms shape how countries develop. In the recent debates on radical economic transformation, there has been little engagement with the market behaviour of large, internationalised conglomerate groups and companies. Recent CCRED research shows that the largest firms in the economy have not been investing extensively in expanding domestic

The Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) invites you to the following Africa Day public platform: Industrialisation and competition in Southern Africa African countries face huge ongoing challenges in diversifying their economies and overcoming the colonial legacy of dependence on natural resources and agricultural commodities. The case for diversified industrialisation has been further emphasised by the decline in commodity prices which resulted in faltering growth rates. Africa Day is an appropriate time to critically assess these issues of

The Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) in partnership with the Competition Commission of South Africa invite you to the following public lecture: Standards for Merger Review: Key insights from European Cases The public lecture will be presented by Prof. Massimo Motta. About the speaker: Professor Massimo Motta is Research Professor at ICREA-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. He served as Chief Competition Economist at the European Commission’s directorate general for competition from September 2013

The Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED), in partnership with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has the pleasure of inviting you to the following seminar: Insurance as a means of managing climate variability and volatility This public platform explores the various forms of insurance available to manage the volatility associated with climate variability. It focuses particularly on insurance solutions for smallholder and subsistence farmers as well as funds with a regional or multi-national dimension to account for

The Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED), in partnership with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has the pleasure of inviting you to the following seminar: INVESTING IN FOOD PRODUCTION AND AGRO-PROCESSING – THE ROLE OF REGIONAL VALUE CHAINS This session explores agricultural value chains as a way of rethinking regional industrialisation within the context of climate change, changing land use patterns, and barriers to participation by small and new entrants. This public platform forms part of a