The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the widespread use of expansionary fiscal policies which, in terms of scale, is simply unprecedented. An estimated eye-watering $12 trillion of discretionary fiscal support has been provided globally during the pandemic. Such expenditure has come in the form of support to the unemployed, small businesses, and struggling sectors in an effort to save livelihoods and keep economies buoyant. Crucially, though, for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, these fiscal stimuli packages have deepened their debt challenges....

Abstract: With platinum prices declining due to a seismic demand shift and firms grappling with the high cost of labor and prolonged production-stopping labor strikes, the financial sustainability of platinum group metal (PGM) firms has come under duress since 2012. This article seeks to understand how mining firms have reshaped their strategies to ensure financial sustainability while also meeting external expectations of increasing shared-value outcomes by assessing how firms are deploying buffers and bridges. Firms use buffers when they seek to protect core business activities from supply-side and demand-side volatilities by shifting their overall business strategy and bridges to conform with external expectations of improving shared-value outcomes. The article constructs a case study using five sets of data to assess (i) what supply and demand shocks firms are facing; (ii) how they are reshaping their strategies and undertaking activities to protect the firm from these shocks; (iii) what challenges firms face with reaching shared-value outcomes; and (iv) how firms are undertaking activities to improve shared-value outcomes. This article finds that although buffering activities have been successful at increasing the financial sustainability of mining activities, bridging activities have been less successful given that royalties are vulnerable to maladministration, the impact of corporate social investments often short-lived, and insular and local procurement is limited to low-value-added activities, particularly in the context of mechanization. This article seeks to contribute to the body of literature on how extractive firms are responding to supply and demand shocks and argues that a paradigm shift may be necessary in which traditional bridging activities become part of protecting core business activities to ameliorate the risk of losing a firm’s social license to operate....

Climate change is opening a window of economic opportunity for Zimbabwe, a country that has long been on the periphery of the global economy due to political and economic instability....

First step is to intensify productivity in agricultural and mineral resources....

In response to the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African government expanded its system of social assistance through a short-term 6-month heterogeneous increase in all existing social grants. In addition though, the state introduced a special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, set at R350 per month....

In recent months, the U.S. began negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement with Kenya. These negotiations are aligned with the current administration’s vision for trade reciprocity rather than unilateral trade preference programs. Although these negotiations could produce the first bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and a sub-Saharan African country, a shift from regional preferential trade agreements to bilateral free trade agreements could undermine the growth of smaller countries, who may not be of enough economic interest to the United States. Bilateral agreements could also undermine efforts to create a regional economic bloc through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)....

Southern African countries had a tough 2019. The Government of Lesotho declared a national disaster as a result of the drought which left a fourth of its population facing severe food insecurity. Zambia and Zimbabwe were hit with the worst drought in nearly 40 years, which brought the roaring Victoria Falls to a trickle, and brought millions to the brink of famine. Namibia was hit with its worst drought in 90 years and declared a State of Emergency, the second one in three years, which caused a third of its population to go hungry. Botswana declared 2018/9 a drought year and commenced distribution of relief food packages in drought-stricken parts of the country. The fiscal response needed to address the drought put additional strain on these countries. By the end of 2019, several countries in the region were facing debt distress including Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. ...

The use of GNI per capita for income classification can prevent assistance from reaching where it is needed most....

Executive Summary...

Executive Summary...

Institutional reforms should supersede focus on investments because restoring legitimacy of public institutions is critical...

Increased mechanisation and automation means SA’s number one job-creator of the past two centuries is losing top spot...