President Cyril Ramaphosa says one of the impediments to growth is the high concentration of the economy. The President was giving the keynote speech at a virtual event to launch the Oxford Handbook of the South African economy on Wednesday.
He says there is an urgent need for restructuring the country’s economy.
Oxford University Press printed the 47-chapter Handbook of the South African Economy.
The book outlines the country’s history, political economy and key challenges. It also profiles energy, trade and industry, regulation and the labour market amongst others.
Launch of the Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy:
President Ramaphosa says this handbook comes at the time when the country, like many others across the globe, is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He says this book will guide efforts to seek solutions to challenges facing the economy.
“We also expect economics to give us the evidence-based to develop policies that will bring the millions of excluded people into meaningful participation in the economy, first we need to understand the reality that confronts us to understand more fully the South African economy.”
The Handbook offers diverse analytical perspectives and debates that have implications for policymakers in the current climate of constrained economic growth in a COVID-19 pandemic era, weak economic growth and the challenges of inequality and unemployment.
Professor Fiona Tregenna, one of the handbook’s editors, says this book does not seek to have a particular standpoint but to rather educate.
“The volume doesn’t really seek to advance any particular standpoint but rather it provides rigorous evidence and allows the reader to form their own views but analytically as to do appropriate policy responses.”
University of Johannesburg Vice-Chancellors Tshilidzi Marwala says the handbook is the product of collaborative work in understanding South Africa’s economy.
“The Oxford handbook of the South African economy is an important step in the endeavour not only does it outline where the gaps lie, it allows us to chart a path forward. This is a joint initiative between Wits and UJ, a gentle reminder that collaboration and will are some of the keys to forging on.”
The book also looks at the country’s growing poverty and inequality, job creation and climate change.
