Blook SA

[duncan drennan]

I am very fortunate to have been invited to be a part of Blook SA, a combination of a book and a blog. Darren Gorton of OutThink is the organising force behind this.

The list of authors who will be involved was released today (here are all the posts about the blook).

[Dave A]

Well done Duncan. I look forward to seeing the results!

[Chatmaster]

Congrats Duncan! , I must say it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

[daveob]

Well Done Duncan

[duncan drennan]

Thanks guys. I'll put up more info as things develop. The publishing date has moved back a bit, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the outcome.

[duncan drennan]

Release is scheduled for this coming Monday...

[duncan drennan]

The SA Blook has gone live! Here are the contents,

Introduction

1. The new South Africa - is it real?
2. Is SA rich or poor?
3. What the world thinks of South Africa and what our global opportunities are
4. The importance of each individual's contribution collectively
5. SA Inc and the business of doing business in SA
6. The beauty and grandeur that surrounds us
7. The importance of technology in SA's global emergence
8. Building brand South Africa
9. Making the most of SA's creative talents and abilities
10. Innovate for a better South Africa
11. The role of the younger generation in SA, and what we need to do to support them
12. Connecting South Africa - Communities that transcend technology
13. We are African - the role of collaboration in South Africa's growth

My chapter is 10: Innovate for a better South Africa.

[Dave A]

I've got as far as the introduction so far. I got waylaid by this part:

In his State of the Nation address on 8 February 2008, while referring to Eskom’s plight at the time, President Thabo Mbeki said “We are a minerals resource economy. We must therefore continue to support the mining industry. It is inevitable that if we are to continue on our growth path as a manufacturing country, we will also have to continue supporting the processing industry.”

Oh boy! That got me going on a Google search to find proof of what I'd learnt and commented on in a thread here on the viability of ASGISA - services and manufacturing have outstripped resources and agriculture as the biggest contributor to GDP a while ago already.

South Africa's GDP can be calculated by adding the value added by each of the 11 industry groupings in South Africa. The 11 industries and their relative weighting in calculating GDP are: agriculture, forestry and fishing = 3.9%, mining and quarrying = 5%, electricity and water = 3.2%, manufacturing = 18.7%, construction = 2.8%, wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants = 12.4%, transport and communication = 10.8%, finance, real estate and business services = 17.8%, community, social and personal services = 2.5%, general government services = 12.2% and other producers = 2.4%. Total value added by industries adds up to 91.7%. Taxes less subsidies on products account for the remaining 8.3%.

It is interesting to note that agriculture and mining has a very small weighting compared to what is generally perceived as very big contributors to the SA economy. These two sectors traditionally were very dominant, but since SA's re-integration into the global economy the structure of the economy has changed, from predominantly primary (agriculture and mining) to secondary (manufacturing) economy with a very big service component. The services and manufacturing sectors in SA have increased rapidly over the past decade, due mainly to the fact that foreign services and manufacturing companies have opened operations in SA.

That might be a little dated - their stats run to 2003. But in that search, I also found a page from Stats SA giving a breakdown of GDP over the years (page 14).

For 2007:
value added by industry and gross domestic product at constant 2000 prices (R million)
It might help if people know which sectors are the real movers and shakers nowadays.

[duncan drennan]

That also raised an eyebrow for me, but I was encouraged that the manufacturing industry was growing. Seeing the numbers raises a lot of questions in my mind though - mainly, why does the president think we are a minerals economy? Or is it that a large part of the manufacturing rests on the mineral production?

[Dave A]

I think the point to take home is that the real money is in the value add. We need to be exporting finished product, not raw materials. Now how do you achieve that?

I was chewing over those Agriculture figures too. It makes you think a bit about the food inflation issue we have at the moment.