Introduction T
his report is a summary of discussions held between the Inclusive Society Institute (ISI) and representatives of multinational funding institutions to gain a better understanding of what policies South Africa should be pursuing to encourage welfare-enhancing growth.
Economists from the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) participated in the April 2021 webinar, providing their insights on policy interventions. The discussion forms part of the ISI’s comprehensive research to develop a new growth-centred economic blueprint for South Africa. This report highlights that: • South Africa is at a critical juncture, with a combination of challenges on the economic, social, environmental and fiscal fronts emerging simultaneously. These issues must be responded to at the same time, presenting development challenges. • South Africa’s short-term economic recovery is fragile, and the country is underperforming against other emerging nations. • For the first time in democratic South Africa, macroeconomic stability has been flagged as one of the country’s top three concerns. • The public-sector wage bill is high by international standards and wage levels of employees in the public sector are high, compared with private-sector employees in South Africa. • A demographic dividend is a big opportunity, although there is concern about population growth that is not supported by economic growth. The report concludes with recommendations for policy interventions in green energy, digital transformation, skills, infrastructure investment and employment to help place South Africa on a path to sustained growth and inclusive development. Participants included World Bank country director for Southern Africa, Marie Francoise MarieNelly; World Bank lead economist for Southern Africa, Wolfgang Fengler; and OECD Development Centre’s unit for Africa, Europe and Middle East head, Arthur Minsat.
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