South Africa-BRIC-SADC Trade Alliances and the South African Economy
| Date | 01 January 2018 |
| Published date | 01 January 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020881718757589 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
South Africa-BRIC-SADC
Trade Alliances and the
South African Economy
Adrino Mazenda1
Tyanai Masiya1
Norman Nhede1
Abstract
The article discusses the implications of South Africa-Brazil Russia India China-
Southern African Development Community (BRIC-SADC) trade alliances on
South Africa’s economic growth. The analysis follows the periods in which South
Africa is mired by fluctuating exchange rate and rising cost of living, as denoted by
the rising consumer price index (CPI). In order to understand the implications,
an autoregressive redistributive modelling (ARDL) was utilized on quarterly data
from 2005 quarter 1 to 2017 quarter 3, regressing South Africa’s growth against
South Africa-BRIC and South Africa-SADC trade balances, the main variables of
interest. The empirical results identify a significant long-run relationship of the
selected variables. However, the results review a negative contribution of South
Africa-BRIC trade on South Africa’s economy, while the South Africa-SADC
trade produced positive results. Trade composition remains a major challenge
for South Africa-BRIC trade. Continued innovation and research and development
will shift reliance on primary commodities for exports to mechanized products,
hence increasing gains from the lucrative BRICS trade and the non-utilized
SADC trade.
Keywords
BRICS, SADC, trade, economic growth, South Africa
Article
International Studies
55(1) 61–74
2018 Jawaharlal Nehru University
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0020881718757589
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/isq
1 University of Pretoria, School of Public Management and Administration, EMS, South Africa.
Corresponding author:
Adrino Mazenda, University of Pretoria, School of Public Management and Administration, EMS, Bag X20
Hateld, 0028, South Africa.
E-mail: adrino.mazenda@up.ac.za
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