SA fast losing traction in Africa

South Africa is fast losing traction in Sub-Saharan Africa thanks to its poor economic performance. According to African economics expert, Dr Duncan Clark, it is not just losing political power but also economic power within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the greater Sub-Saharan context. “And it can be attributed to the fact that its growth rate is slower than the rest of the region. It really is as simple as that,” he said. Clark said South Africa was without doubt under-performing with its annual GDP growth of around 2.5%. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at around 6.6% this year but when South Africa is added to the mix the figure drops to only 5.4%. “The country is affecting the growth of the entire region,” said Clark. “At the moment South Africa seems to be driven more by political targets than anything economic and that is weakening its position in Africa and the power it may have in that context.” He said with unemployment and poverty rates having remained unchanged for more than a decade now, along with the growing labour tension, South Africa was not actively trying to address its everdeteriorating position. “Ambitions of a 7% growth rate and the creation of thousands of jobs by government remain unrealistic. It is time to draw a very clear distinction between fantasy and reality.”