Vol. 2, No. 1 (2010)
Storming, Norming, Performing – Implications of the Financial Crisis in Southern Africa
Franziska Müller
Abstract
Southern Africa seems to be a remote region. Far away from stock market crashes, bank runs and toxic assets, one might assume at first sight that the financial crisis would hit the developing and least developed countries less hard. Yet, reality tells a more ambivalent story, as Southern African states have been affected in different ways and have found specific ways of dealing with the consequences of the financial crisis. This article explores implications of the financial crisis on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a supra-national community in Southern Africa, which has undergone massive liberalisation and restructuring processes during the last decade. Factors such as
- trade policy norms (liberal trade policies versus protectionist trade policies),
- economic diversification and integration (world market versus regional markets, namely South-South cooperation),
- political and regulative capacity (good governance versus weak governance)
shape the vulnerability, capability and performance of SADC states and allow for certain policy strategies – be it State Keynesianism, South-South cooperation, incrementalism or regional integration. The cases of South Africa, Angola and Botswana serve as examples for different forms of managing, regulating and interpreting the financial crisis and its consequences.
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