South Africa's Quest for Inclusive Development

Abstract

The end of apartheid in 1994 ushered in a new era in South Africa and with it came the challenge of building a democratic, inclusive and stable society. The government led by the African National Congress initially followed a neoliberal stance to manage the economy and a redistributive strategy to close the income disparity with a streak of a developmental state. These two tracks were at times at odds with each other. The last decade has shown widening inequality and slow progress in addressing poverty, deprivations and other dimensions of wellbeing. Economic growth resulted in huge regional disparities and left a large middle-class vulnerable to uncertainties. In response, the government adopted an ambitious strategy called the New Growth Path that combined the goal of strong economic growth, job creation and broad economic opportunity in one coherent framework. This effort towards greater inclusion is not without challenges.

Gender Differences in Entrepreneurial Attitudes and Constraints: Do the Constraints Predict University Agriculture Graduates’ Attitudes towards Entrepreneurship?

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“…Botswana, as most of the other middle-income countries in southern Africa, has been among the slow growing economies grappling with high unemployment, especially youth unemployment which has remained elusive (Jauch 2011;Ncube, Shimeles, & Verdier-Chouchane, 2014). Although the country promotes entrepreneurship, the labour market is characterized by high and increasing unemployment rate which has consistently been a 2-digit figure averaging 18.2% between 2000(Morima, 2012Matandare, 2018).…”

Skills and Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa: Analysis with Evidence from Swaziland

“…With high unemployment and youth unemployment, inclusive growth in the region has remained elusive (Jauch 2011;Ncube et al 2014). Despite the oversized public sectors, overall employment has been low, reflecting limited private sector job creation and entrepreneurship, both in the formal and informal sectors.…”

Diffusion of Innovations and Labor Market Challenges: A Multiple Case Study from Angola

“…Scholars argued that the economic trend that is prevalent in African is strongly dependent on investments in new technology, hightechnology industries, and skilled labor, which are essential ingredients for the development of a knowledge-based economy (Tchamyou, 2016). Additionally, literature showed that the growing unemployment rate would be mostly accommodated by the entrepreneurship from the private sector which exceeds 50% of the young labor force and remains among the highest in Africa (Brixiova, Ncube, & Bicaba;Ncube, Shimeles, & Verdier-Chouchane, 2013). The promises are that the promotion of knowledge-based entrepreneurship holds high potential for the improvement and development of other sectors such as that of agriculture, water and energy, and technology (Tchamyou, 2016).…”