The Economy Of South Africa Essay - 1942 Words

Introduction South Africa is a developing country (IMF, 2016). It is a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) since 2011. The UN (United Nation) recognised the BRICS countries as the main players in the structural shift in economic power, which are re-defining the world’s economic geography (Shubin, 2013). The economy of South Africa is one of the largest economies in Africa. According to World Bank’s data in 2015 the GDP of South Africa was (US$ 312.798 Billion) the second largest in Africa, the first was Nigeria (US$ 481.066 Billion) (See figure 1) (The World Bank, 2016a). South Africa is ranked as an upper middle income economy by the World Bank (The World Bank, 2016b). However, economic development and growth is a complex issue several factors can contribute to a country’s development level. Thus, understanding the meanings of economic indicators of economic development is crucial when it comes to interpreting economics statistics of South Afr ica (Akinboade Kinfack, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance and performance of trade in the economy of South Africa and examine the impacts of trade on employment rate, labour productivity and income inequality. South Africa s economic growth The new South Africa was born in 1994 as a democratic country. Which enabled the country to re-integrate into world market as a global economy (Masarira Msweli, 2013). Shortly after the re-integration the South Africa’s economyShow MoreRelatedSouth Africa s Economy Is Largely Based On Mineral Extraction And Processing2454 Words   |  10 PagesSouth Africa’s economy is largely based on mineral extraction and processing. This by its very nature is energy intensive. 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Globalization is dominated by nation states, economies of national and the cultural identities of nations. Globalization creates an interconnected world with a global mass culture which is commonly referred to as a global village (Egnatz, 2011). South Africa is integrated highly into the world economy. South Africa is the strongest African economy and has attained