LEARN: The role of industrial incentives in the South African economy

As South Africa seeks to become more competitive in the global trade environment, there is an increased focus on the role of industrial incentives.

As a country, South Africa ranks 64th out of 69 in the  IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2025 with a number of key industries including Mining, Digital and Manufacturing scoring poorly struggling to compete against global peers.

Many of these challenges are attributed to:

• Poor infrastructure
• Weak education and technical skills gaps
• Inadequate and poorly located infrastructure

With South Africa struggling to attract foreign investment, there has been a focus on what incentives the country can integrate to encourage businesses to unlock investment capital.

The International Economic Partnership (IEP) Programme recently hosted policymakers and experts for a four-part webinar series on industrial policy. The webinar includes a Keynote Presentation by Matthew Stern (Director at DNA Economics), and is followed by a panel discussion between Andreas Bertoldi, Khulekani Mathe, Annie Sugrue, and Dirk Willem te Velde.

Watch the full webinar below: