Industrial Development and Structural Transformation
PAST PROJECTS:
Gauteng Department of Economic Development (GDED) sector studies and strategies (2016-2019)
The Gauteng Department of Economic Development (GDED) requested the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) in collaboration with Benchmarking and Manufacturing Analysts South Africa (Pty) Ltd (B&M Analysts), to conduct a research study on six sectors in the Gauteng province and develop sector strategies for them. The sectors were capital equipment and machinery, plastics and chemicals, automotive, furniture, food and beverages, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The core objective of the sector studies was to provide GDED with concrete and implementable support measures that could be used to promote industrial development in the province.
Towards an understanding of the economy of Johannesburg (2015 – 2016)
The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) commissioned CCRED to undertake firm level surveys in specific industrial nodes in Johannesburg in order to enable the CoJ to design interventions to effectively stimulate dynamism and growth. Key areas of the study included understanding industry in the city through a survey of two industrial areas as well as research on economies of agglomeration in the ICT and broadcasting sectors.
Outputs included the following:
Regional Industrialisation Project (2014 – 2015)
The project, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, investigated the nature of regional industrial development through three sector case studies that explored some of the key constraints and drivers of regional growth. The case studies were undertaken in collaboration with Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID, WITS) and Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS). For the case studies, we analyzed industrial development from a regional perspective in three sectors i) construction; ii) capital equipment; and iii) agribusiness.
Outputs from the project were as follows:
Case Study 1: Transport infrastructure value chain in South Africa and Mozambique
Case Study 2: Capital Equipment with a special focus on the Zambian copper-belt
Case Study 3: Seed-oil value chain in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa
Growth promotion through Industrial Strategies (Zambia)
This project, commissioned by the International Growth Centre (IGC, based in the London School of Economics and Political Science in partnership with the University of Oxford) assessed the current and potential opportunities for industrial development in Zambia. The study analysed trends and patterns in industrial performance over time, as well as industry-level capabilities and competitiveness. It undertook a broad scoping of high potential sub-sectors in Zambia, with particular attention to resource-based industries and regional markets. It also provided a review of the policy framework for industrial development. The project identified several areas of untapped, substantial opportunities for Zambia’s manufacturing sector, particularly in the agro-processing and engineering products subsectors.
Review of Provincial Development Finance Institutions (PDFIS)
CCRED conducted a review of provincial development finance institutions (PDFIs) for the Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) and National Treasury in order to support a more coherent and coordinated development finance system. The PDFIs included in the review were:
Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC),
Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA),
Free State Development Corporation (FDC),
Gauteng Economic Propeller (GEP),
Ithala Development Finance Corporation (IDFC or “Ithala”),
Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA),
Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA), and
North West Development Corporation (NWDC).
The review covered the following six key areas:
Mandate of the PDFIs
Corporate governance and regulatory environment
Risk management within the PDFIs
Developmental effectiveness of the PDFIs
Funding models and financial stability of the PDFIs
Organisational and institutional arrangements
The information gathered from this review was expected to feed into the finalisation of South Africa’s DFI policy and the development of relevant legislation.
Plastic Converters Strategy
The project was undertaken for the Department of Trade and Industry to assist in developing the plastics conversion sector strategy, including identifying relevant growth sub-sectors. The plastics sector is in many ways representative of the diversified manufacturing industry in which growth is necessary as part of broader-based economic development.