Here is an excellent article from the Financial Times on South Africa’s mining industry and how, for various different reasons (a primary one being the talk about nationalisation), this sector has failed properly to take advantage of commodity booms. And, despite having missed the last one, all indications are we will miss the next one too.
There are some brilliant facts and figures in here and it constitutes a fairly devastating analysis of how we are failing properly to capitalise on our potential. Here is the definitive stat: “During the 2001-08 commodities boom, the world's top 20 mining countries achieved an average mining growth rate of 5 per cent a year, but South Africa's sector shrank by 1 per cent a year, according to the country's Chamber of Mines. Only Venezuela, where leftwing president Hugo Chávez is nationalising large swatches of the mining industry, came close to matching that poor result.”
Certainly, if we want to generate serious economic growth, there is enormous work to be done - both by the state and the private sector - to realise our potential. (The article compares Australia and South Africa and how, despite being equally competitive in terms of resources, Australia’s greater efficiency is leaving South Africa in the dust.) A really excellent article for anyone interested in the economy and the role of the mining sector.
Click HERE for the full article at the Financial Times.
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