South Africa

South Africa’s media sector is perhaps the largest, and without a doubt the most sophisticated and dynamic, on the continent. It has certainly come a long way since 1976, when the country aired its first broadcast. With more than 850 print titles, around 250 radio stations, and 16 television providers offering more than 170 channels, the country...

South Africa is a major producer of maize, which is used to produce both food staples and animal feed for the domestic market, and is also exported. The drought of early 2015 affected production badly, but the outlook is more positive for the crop, which has been increasingly favoured over wheat.

The issue of land reform is one of the thorniest topics that South Africa faces, with serious social, economic and political implications. The apartheid regime left land concentrated in the hands of the white minority, a situation that has proved difficult to redress fairly and efficiently. Land reform is closely connected to the agricultural...

Worth over $15bn to the national economy, South Africa’s agriculture sector has historically been one of the strongest on the continent. Diversified and increasingly export-oriented, it enjoyed a strong year in 2014, on the back of a healthy maize crop and demand from abroad in particular. While the short-term outlook for 2015 is weaker, thanks...