South Africa‟s Special Economic Zones – Inspiration from China?

The successful use of special economic zones as economic tools for export-led industrial development in East Asia propelled a wave of similar initiatives across Africa. In Southern Africa, Zambia and South Africa instituted special economic zones in their respective legal and institutional frameworks in the 2000s as mechanisms for catalysing industrialization and employment creation by means of domestic and foreign investments. Using a case-study approach, we find that special economic zones in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, are largely latent drivers of growth and employment hampered by inadequate infrastructure financing and provision and weak local supplier capabilities. Special economic zones in Lusaka, Zambia, face similar constraints but are further hampered by inadequate business services provision, burdensome regulations and business procedures, a fragmented incentive framework, institutional coordination failures, and a weak design that does not leverage strategic anchor industries for greater agglomeration economies, thus rendering them more of white elephants.

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Special Economic Zones in South Africa: Reflections from International Debates

Urban Forum ◽

10.1007/s12132-012-9184-7 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 205-217 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Etienne L. Nel ◽

Christian M. Rogerson

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Special Economic Zones ◽

Economic Zones

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A comparative analysis of the design of special economic zones: The case of South Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia

Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences ◽

10.4102/jef.v9i3.69 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 749-768

Author(s):

Nadea Le Roux ◽

Anculien Schoeman

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

South African Government ◽

Special Economic Zones ◽

African Government ◽

Programme Design ◽

The World ◽

Key Aspects ◽

Economic Zones

The South African government is dedicated to improving the country’s economy. The establishment of economic zones is used throughout the world as a method to improve a country’s economic growth. The main purpose of this study is to compare the key aspects of the new Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Programme in South Africa to those of Malaysia and Indonesia, since both these countries have successfully established SEZs which have contributed to the development of these countries. It was found that South Africa’s programme design was on par with that of these two countries, but further recommendations were made.

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