New development strategies for Southern Africa

The Southern African region is characterized by unacceptable high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The traditional strategies for fostering growth as prescribed by the IMF and World Bank, namely macroeconomic stability and market-friendly reforms, have clearly failed to meet these challenges. This paper argues that Southern Africa will need to design and implement a very different development strategy, based on expanded social protection, structural economic changes and the consistent realization of socio-economic rights. The Basic Income Grant (BIG) as implemented in Namibia has proven to be an important initiative in this regard and could be a promising starting point.