Revamping Artisanal Gold Mining in Zimbabwe to Catalyse Poverty Reduction
This briefing discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by the artisanal gold mining sector in Zimbabwe. It reflects on the measures needed to promote artisanal miners’ contribution to sustainable development, economic growth and poverty alleviation.
South Africa’s Economic Statecraft in Southern Africa: Non-existent or Nascent? An Examination of Relations with Zimbabwe and Swaziland
The ‘new’ South Africa that has emerged since the country’s first democratic elections, held the year after this acceptance speech, has fallen somewhat short of these expectations for the ‘rainbow nation’.
Nationalism with Chinese Characteristics: How Does it Affect the Competitiveness of South Africa’s Mining Industry?
Between 2001 and 2008, the longest sustained commodity boom in recent history, South Africa’s mining industry contracted at roughly 1% a year.
Kenya Gears Up for Second Peer Review … Again
Despite the shadow cast by the charges against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court, Kenya has been quietly going about compiling its second Country Self-Assessment Report (CSAR) under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Platinum & Passes: The Impact of Mining Investments on Education Outcomes in South Africa
Platinum mining is a major engine of South Africa’s economy, producing exports and generating employment for many South Africans. It is, however, highly dependent on skilled labour, engineers and technicians, who are drawn from the limited pool of graduates that are emerging from the weak South African schooling system. Public-private partnerships have been established in an attempt to address this gap.
South Africa’s Regional Policy: The Link Between Normative Anchors and Economic Diplomacy in SADC
South Africa’s foreign policy identity is grounded in the values of good governance, democracy and human rights, as a consequence of its own transition to democratic rule in 1994. However, the past two decades have witnessed lacunae in the manner in which these values have been articulated in its economic diplomacy in Southern Africa.
Reformist zeal fails to ease path for business in Nigeria
Brazil ‘is the country of the future and always will be’. Attributed to Stefan Zweig, an Austrian novelist who emigrated to Brazil in 1941, this quote could be adapted to Nigeria, which recently hosted the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Africa Summit in Abuja.
The African Union and the Promotion of Democratic Values in Africa: An Electoral Perspective
Since its official inauguration on 9 July 2002, the African Union (AU) has made the promotion of democracy and good political governance for the development and stability of Africa one of its main priorities.
Governance: Linchpin of Dryland Natural Resource Management
Drylands cover approximately 12.5 million km2 (61%) of the African continent and 60% of Africa’s people live in them. Forests and woodlands underpin sustainable land management and livelihoods in dryland regions.
Extractive sector under pressure to demonstrate developmental obligation
If the European Union (EU) and the ‘Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) can provide strong leadership in at least four key areas, EU companies can become better placed than their global peers to meet the stricter operation standards and developmental impact being demanded by communities and governments in Africa.