Green Shoots of Hope: Changing Economic Conditions in Zimbabwe

By 2005 Zimbabwe had the fastest shrinking economy in the world and the purchasing power of the average Zimbabweans had fallen to levels last seen for more than a half century. But there appear to be signals of green shoots of recovery and hope for Zimbabweans. Citizens are clambering up from the bottom of the [...]

Government Committed to Priorities – SA Budget

SA Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivered the South African medium term budget statement on 27th October. Government priorities remain social spending, infrastructural expansion and job creation. See Idasa’s comment in the video and statement below.

African Governance – Ibrahim Index

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance is a comprehensive ranking of sub-Saharan African nations according to governance quality. The criteria for assessment capture the quality of services provided to citizens by governments and focus on the results that the people of a country experience. The criteria are divided into five over-arching categories which together make [...]

SA and US Economic Relations

By HOPEWELL RADEBE – Business Day President Jacob Zuma ’s administration could significantly increase economic growth if it carefully spelt out the objectives of its economic relations with the US, says Witney Schneidman*, who advised Barack Obama’s presidential campaign on African affairs. He was at the University of Pretoria yesterday, where he delivered a lecture [...]

SA Needs Pragmatism and Reassurance – Pre-State of the Nation

A month has passed since the April 22 election. The South African economy has entered its first official recession since the early 1990s. With a contraction of 6.4 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) in the last quarter and zero percent growth forecast for the second quarter of this year, all indications are that the [...]

Afrobarometer – Democracy in Africa

Read the latest releases from Afrobarometer on the following topics: The Evolution of African Political Regimes in the last 10 years; Poverty Reduction, Economic Growth and Democratisation in Southern Africa; African Media and Telecommunications; and Citizens and Democratisation. See these releases here.

Zuma and his cabinet

-By Judith February – South Africans’ capacity for magnanimity has been well-displayed these past weeks. Jacob Zuma is our President. Despite the cloud of corruption which will continue to hang over his head despite occupying the highest office, we, the people, have a responsibility not only to demand accountability but to put our shoulders to [...]