The growing use of project bonds in funding infrastructure globally deserves attention. Although primarily dominated by the developed markets, emerging markets such as Latin America and Asia have also been successful in using project bonds to finance their infrastructure projects. The project bond market in South Africa remains insignificant, with only a few episodic issuances in the last decade. Given the size of the country's capital markets, institutional investor base and experience with project finance transactions; one would expect the country to have a sizeable project bond market. This paper aims to investigate whether or not South Africa has the capacity to use project bonds to fund its infrastructure development. As government finances take strain, and as bank funding becomes unavailable due to Basel III, South Africa will need to look to the capital markets for the funding of its ambitious infrastructure plan. This paper finds that South Africa should begin to use project bonds and capital markets to fund its infrastructure development. However, more needs to be done on the regulatory and legal side to ensure that the country continues to attract foreign investment for infrastructure development.

In this paper we study savings behavior in South African Metropolitan Townships and households' ability to manage "shocks" ex-post to their occurrence. In particular we want to determine if the availability of instruments like mobile-money solutions, that allow households to save anywhere , anytime, next to community savings schemes like stokvels and more traditional ones like funeral plans, insurance and bank accounts affects the savings behavior to the extent of improving households' shock-coping strategies. We investigated how variables like education level achieved, employment status and approach to life of the respondents influence their behavior. Poor people periodically face a variety of "shocks", events that can be overwhelming, like ill-health or death of a family member (sometimes the breadwinner), or natural disasters causing loss of home or crop. By providing them with means to save anywhere, anytime they have a chance to mitigate shocks by saving over time, enabling them increase their productivity, maintain their expenditure on nutrition and education during hard times and preventing them from falling back into poverty. While many scholars argue that poor people do have surplus money to save, and the data from this research confirms this statement, traditional financial institutions, especially large commercial banks, find it hard to reach these customers as it is too costly to establish branches in remote areas and they do not have business models to deal with a large number of customers that require low savings and small transactions. Instead mobile operators have experience and technology in place in handling low-value, high-volume transactions and can therefore run the payment and account management platforms instead (or on behalf of) banks. We interviewed 528 households in the Metropolitan Township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town and found statistical evidence that employment status, education level and approach to life affect savings behavior and the adoption of an "optimal" vs. "sub-optimal" strategy when facing unexpected events or shocks. Usage of mobile-money products is low as only 15% of the sample declared to use any of them: this can be partially explained by the fact that bank penetration in the Metropolitan Townships is surprisingly high, with 80% of the population formally banked as confirmed by other studies. We did not find enough statistical evidence that savings through mobile-money instruments improves shock-coping behavior although all the respondents who use some mobile-money product indicated that they perceive an improvement in their ability to deal with unexpected events. We found statistical evidence that education level, employment status and approach to life affects savings behavior and the financial situation of the household. Correlation tests showed statistically significant relationships between better strategies and employment status or education level. Respondents who save using use methods that do not allow immediate withdrawals of the funds like stokvels or funeral plans adopt better strategies than those who rely only on bank accounts.

Constrained housing supply coupled with rapid urbanisation and a volatile domestic credit market have put affordable rental housing development under the spotlight. Addressing this demands appropriate and deliberate capital provisions to induce the property development market to deliver the scale needed to tackle the supply-side of the problem. Inducements are needed for residential property developers to choose to develop high-density affordable rental housing on land that presents great accessibility to economically vibrant nodes, where land is priced at a premium. The greenfield residential property development space is in need of sophisticated and specific funding interventions to evolve it beyond the sporadic developments we observe located on the urban periphery on cheap land. The benefits of sophisticated funding models in commercial property have seen the widespread proliferation of building and investment activity. Rental housing, however, lags behind owing to an immature market, shallow investment analysis and rudimentary risk-weighted debt-funding solutions. These funding instruments impede developers building affordable housing schemes on well-located parcels of land near existing amenities and profoundly incorporate green technology into buildings. This research presents a proof of concept for a sophisticated model for high-density housing. A largely 'spatial economic' model for risk analysis, it is developed to attain a so-called Probability of Default Ratio ("PDR") by coalescing two formulae regarded as international best-practice: The risk types incorporated into the model are (1) borrower-level credit risk, (2) property/development-level risk, and (3) cash-flow risk factors. The research is proof of concept of a credit risk management tool for impact investment funding model using these formulae and Geographic Information Systems ("GIS"). It calculates the extent of credit risk for income-producing real estate fundamentals and uses endogenous factors- risk factors and drivers associated with the housing scheme to be build and the surrounding area it is to be built in. The study area covers the 336 contiguous municipal wards that make up the Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipalities.

Backyard shacks prevalent in new government-sponsored housing developments is a distinctly South African phenomenon (Lemanski, 2009). Conventional housing finance and government housing delivery systems have consistently failed to meet the housing needs of lower income South Africans (Sisulu, 2005); however the informal market has responded to the housing need. The rate at which new households create informal housing now exceeds the rate of government housing - and infrastructure provision (Durand-Lasserve et al, 2002). Backyard shacks in formalized areas create a number of problems relating to urban management and public health; however backyard shacks have enormous potential as a means of achieving high-level government policy objectives such as densifying existing serviced neighbourhoods. South Africa's policy environment has not been successful in unlocking the potential that backyard shack formalization holds. Government interventions such as the provision of grants and subsidies have resulted in sub-optimal allocation of resources and unintended negative consequences. Housing Microfinance (HMF) is increasingly viewed as an important tool that can facilitate access to affordable, appropriate shelter for lower-income households (Daphnis and Ferguson, 2004); however the industry's potential remains untapped (Kihato, 2013). Whilst there are ranges of potential players in the HMF field that may be better positioned to intervene in the formalization of backyard shacks by means of providing financing products, they are not incentivized to achieve the high-level government policy objectives that have driven the unsuccessful government intervention thus far. This study tests the appetite of potential players in the HMF sector to develop a niche loan targeted at beneficiaries of government-sponsored houses, which can be used to finance the formalization of backyard shacks. Concerns around - and prerequisites for involvement in such an initiative were identified by means of conducting in-depth interviews with potential players in the HMF sector. The major concerns around involvement in the development of a niche loan related to using a RDP house as collateral for a loan and to social justice concerns in terms of assisting RDP recipients and not backyard tenants. Prerequisites for involvement related to partnering with other potential players and the community and to educate potential clients on personal finance and encourage investment in their own properties.

Interest rate ceilings are often considered as an effective way of preventing lenders from charging extortionate interest rates. However, setting the rates too low may cause institutions to fail to raise enough revenue to cover their costs. Low rates may pressure MFIs to reduce costs, increase loan sizes, withdraw services from areas where it is expensive to operate, or exit from the market altogether. A 42% interest rate ceiling was introduced in Zambia on the effective annual lending interest rate of MFIs in January 2013, which was later removed in November 2015. This research was aimed at investigating the effect of interest rate ceiling and microfinance direct costs on the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions in Zambia. The study used time series data from consolidated quarterly financial statements from March 2006 to September 2016 and employed Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) approach to analyse the effect of Yield on Gross Portfolio, Cost of Funds, Operating Expenses and Loan Loss provisions on Operational Self Sufficiency (OSS). OSS was used as a proxy for financial sustainability (dependent variable). Results of the time series analyses showed a positive and significant effect of Yield on Gross Portfolio and Cost of Funds on OSS in the long run. On the other hand, Operating Expenses and Loan Loss provisions had a negative relationship with OSS, albeit statistically insignificant. Trend analysis of the Yield on Gross Portfolio showed a downward trend and consequently the OSS also trended downwards, with the lowest OSS being recorded during the period interest rate ceilings were introduced. However, the trend showed that the microfinance sector was generally sustainable during the study period. The reduction in OSS following the introduction of the ceiling confirmed findings from prior studies regarding the negative impact of interest rate ceilings on the financial sustainability of MFIs. Although the study results showed that the MFIs were generally sustainable during the study period, it was evident that they were negatively impacted by the interest rate ceiling. Therefore the recommendation from this study is that interest rates must be set at levels where costs can be adequately covered. Furthermore, managing costs and loan delinquency should be core priorities among Zambian MFIs to ensure financial sustainability.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between macroeconomic variables and South Africa's affordable housing market using basic multivariate regression analysis. This paper empirically examines whether increases in RDP house prices can be explained by or attributed to the movements in gross domestic product (GDP), prime lending rate (RATE), the stock market (JSE) and inflation (CPI). As an exploratory paper in nature, data of RDP resales prices from eight major metropolitan cities in South Africa was collected from the Centre of Affordable Housing Finance (CAHF) for the period 2007 to 2015. The findings from the regression analysis show that only JSE is a key determinant of RDP housing prices in South Africa. Since there was no a statistically significant relationship that could be found between affordable housing price movements and GDP, RATE and CPI, this study suggests that hedonic variables should be used in future studies, as well as accounting for regional differences. Notwithstanding, since the resale of RDP homes is a new dimension in the real estate market and whose introduction is also still at its infancy in South Africa, an examination of the RDP home prices is important to the financiers (financial institutions), investors, housing authorities, the government and other interested stakeholders who might want to have an understanding of the factors that drive the prices of these homes in South Africa. The results from this study, therefore, play a role in informing these parties as they allow them to make better decisions in terms of whether to make financing available (financial institutions), policy formulation or direction (government) and whether to invest or sale (other stakeholders).

The impact of insurance market activity within financial development is gaining more attention in academia, as the sector experiences growth within emerging markets. This paper aims to understand which macro-economic and social variables impact the growth or decline of the non-life insurance sector broadly across Africa, with a view to provide recommendations to drive increased penetration across the region. The study examines the explanatory factors of non-life insurance demand in Africa, using annual data from 1990 to 2013 on 28 countries. Using Fixed Effects Panel Data Regression, the study finds that: levels of income, and unemployment rates have a significant negative impact on non-life insurance demand; whilst population growth rates, and the level of private sector credit (to GDP) positively impacted non-life insurance demand. Urbanisation rates, and levels of merchandise trade had statistically insignificant effects on non-life insurance demand. Since these variables only explained about 11 % of the variation in the dependent variable, the study suggests that further research into the cultural and institutional (ie. Legal / regulatory) dynamics is required to improve our understanding of what conditions would stimulate non-life insurance demand in future.

Remittances received from migrants abroad have become one of the largest sources of external finance for developing countries. It has been argued that a particular impact of this influential flow is the stimulation of financial sector development. However, current research has been mainly based at a broad level across the developing world. This paper investigates whether this consensus holds true when examined at a sub-regional level within Sub-Saharan Africa. It is an important question given the extensive literature documenting the direct growth enhancing effect of financial development, and consequently, poverty reduction. In particular, annual data from 11 countries in the South African Development Community (SADC) are analysed from 1990 to 2011 using the panel data analysis techniques of fixed and random effects models, a Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM) dynamic framework (Arellano & Bover, 1995) and Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimations (Baum, Schaffer & Stillman, 2003). Three indicators of financial sector development are analysed, namely: the level of bank deposits, near money (M2) and credit intermediated by the local banking sector. Remittances are found to have a largely negative and insignificant impact on financial sector development in SADC over the period of study. This contradicts the findings of the current literature on this topic. The implications of this are noteworthy as it adds evidence that the model currently held in the literature (i.e. that remittances have a positive and significant relationship on financial sector development) is not robust at the less smoothed level of a subregional scale. But further, it provides evidence to motivate the further exploration of the impact of measurement errors of remittance flows. Recommendations for further research are provided on the basis of both these possible causes.

Beitbridge is regarded as the busiest and the most inefficient border post in Sub-Saharan Africa due to its poor state of systems and infrastructure. It takes travellers more than two hours to cross the border on a normal day, and a minimum of two days during holidays. Trucks spend up to five days trying to get cleared and cars queue for kilometres from the immigration buildings. These cause problems of delays, corruption and revenue leakages at the border. This research investigated how institutional and infrastructural factors contribute to delays at the Beitbridge Border Post and identified possible solutions to these delays. Using the "border theory" as a theoretical framework, the research documented and focused on major issues around delays and problems at the Beitbridge Border Post, and possible solutions. Being an exploratory study, the research used an inductive qualitative approach to using primary and secondary data sources to understand issues that contribute to delays at the border post and to come up with a possible policy recommendation. The findings revealed that most institutional problems causing delays at the border are duplication of tasks between different agencies operating at the border post and resistance to procedures due to failure of following instructions by users. Infrastructural problems causing delays at the border include, amongst others, the usage of a single bridge that causes congestion and convergence of traffic at the gate; and the reason that there is no enough parking on both sides of the border. These findings support the border theory in terms of how borders impact people's daily lives.

Developing local SMEs will lead to sustainable economic growth, as well as the empowerment of communities. In addition, extensive literature over the years have proven that FDI does not lead to economic development and that it is in the best interest of a country to have an international trade friendly policy. The South African government has a mandate to lessen unemployment by 6% by 2030 as part of their National Development Planning (NDP) Vision 2030. This study seeks to discover the impact of FDI on developing SMEs in South Africa. Literature has supported the notion that SME development leads to growth as it increases economic activity, however, conflicting views exist about contributing FDI to SME development. Additionally, there has been a gap in literature for South Africa as the focus has been on SSA, because of the lack of publicly available information on FDI projects performed by SMEs. This study sets out to learn the factors that affect FDI in SA as well as the impact of those factors on SME development, as they are instrumental in driving economic growth. The factors researched were GDP growth, inflation rate, corruption index, GDP per capita, sum of imports and exports as a % of GDP, infrastructure development, research and development and the GDP. This study used the unrestricted ARDL statistical technique in variables selection. This method kept 3 variables out of 8 initially in the model, eliminating issues of multicollinearity and unreliable coefficients with large variance and standard errors. This method ensured that the best-fit model was selected to explain the determinants of FDI. The findings of the study indicated a positive relationship between FDI, market size and macroeconomic stability, while the relationship to political risk was negative. An assumption that drivers of FDI also impact the development of SME was used and the best-fit variables of FDI drivers were fitted in an ARDL, to determine the relationship between FDI and SME development. The test returned a statistically insignificant yet positive relationship between SME development and FDI. Based on the findings, the research recommends firm level investigation for SMEs on FDI involvements to better determine the factors that lead to their development.