Tag: Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

Steel is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world, because it has such a wide variety of uses – steel is everywhere, from construction to vehicles, home goods to robotics. Steel production is also hugely carbon intensive, representing a significant proportion of global man-made carbon emissions. In the universal quest for Net Zero and carbon neutral, green steel production is critical.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) play a vital role in promoting economic growth, attracting investments and driving industrialisation in Africa. As the world embraces rapid technological advancements, it is crucial for SEZs and IDZs to adapt and adopt technological change to remain competitive and foster sustainable development.

South Africa’s economy is in a mess, to say the very least, and all this is solely and exclusively the fault of policymakers. Everything has gone horribly wrong! Yet it is not all beyond redemption.

You don’t need to be a Nobel economics laureate to know that with the world’s highest rate of unemployment, South Africa needs to attract a lot more job-creating investments. One of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition’s (DTIC’s) flagship programmes is the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), a new iteration of what we used to call Industrial Development Zones (IDZs).

Every Budget is preceded and followed by the mantra that the Finance Minister faced serious challenges. No, that is never true. All Budgets are easy and straight forward. If they promote prosperity, then countries, including governments and the poor, get rich. All that’s needed is for Budgets to raise rather than lower economic freedom scores – more freedom, more prosperity; less freedom, more poverty. It is that simple.