South Africa Industry

Home to one of the continent’s most sophisticated retail markets, South Africa boasts a wide variety of retail formats and distribution channels to match the diversity of the country itself. The retail sector has played an important role in helping South Africa rebound from the 2008-09 financial crisis relatively unscathed, as social grants, increases in public sector...

South Africa’s industrial policy has been underpinned by the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), which is launched each year by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on a three-year rolling basis and covering a 10-year outlook. The latest iteration, which will cover the period from 2014 to 2017, will place greater emphasis on trade competitiveness by directing...

Manufacturing constitutes South Africa’s secondlargest economic sector and currently accounts for 15.2% of GDP, as well as being responsible for the creation of roughly 1.7m jobs. It also ranks among the top three sectors in terms of multiplier effect, producing R1.16 ($0.11) of value added for every R1 ($0.09) invested according to industry representative group the...

Low-income earners are typically the population segment most negatively affected by unexpected adverse events, and they also tend to be the group with the lowest insurance coverage. While South Africa’s micro-insurance penetration compares favourably – around 30% of South African adults use micro-insurance compared to less than 1% in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa – there is...