The purpose of local economic development (LED) is to build up the economic capacity of a community, to improve its economic future and the quality of life for all. It is a process by which public, business and nongovernmental sector partners work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation (World Bank, 2006). In achieving the above definition of LED by the World Bank, the participation of community members in this process cannot be over emphasized. Women entrepreneurs are a driving force in today’s modern world. Most researches on women entrepreneurs in developed countries have showed that there are significant improvements in the economic growth of these countries as a result of the entrepreneurial activities of these women. However, there are limited statistics on the impact of women entrepreneurs in developing countries. The context of this research area is the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM). This research makes a contribution to the existing body of knowledge about the promotion of LED through the participation of women entrepreneurs in NMBM. A group of women entrepreneurs in the metro completed a questionnaire. The aim of the questionnaires was to help identify their nature of business, years of being in business and most importantly, challenges each one of them encounter in carrying out their business operations and in developing their entrepreneurial skills. The research methods used in the study are the qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative method approach is used in the literature review. The literature review formed the conceptual basis against which the information gained from questionnaires were analysed. The quantitative method included the use of questionnaires. The data collected in this study revealed that the activities of women entrepreneurs contributed in their own little way to the growth and development of the metro. The study further reveals that finance is one of the major challenges of the women entrepreneurs as supported by the findings in the literature review. Therefore, if access to finance and support system are made readily available for women entrepreneurs, they would be able to make a significant impact in the development of the metro and nation at large. In conclusion, the researcher has been able to identify some of the challenges women entrepreneur face through the experience of the respondents in the study. The researcher has also been able to demonstrate how the aims and the objectives of the study have been met.

There is a growing consensus globally about the significance of developing local and regional economies in order to create sustainable livelihood for local communities. The policy discourse in South Africa and elsewhere as well as the immense body of literature on local economic development bears testimony to this reality (Nel 1994,Tomlinson 1994, Rogerson 2003, World Bank 2002). The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) and the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act (Act 36 of 2000) enshrine the role of municipalities in enhancing the economic growth and development, and harnessing the social wellbeing of the communities ‘through creation of employment opportunities and redistribution of resources’. Importantly, this legislative framework must be accompanied by, on the one hand proper structures and political will, and on the other hand provision of resources and institutional capacity for realization of the long term objectives of Local Economic Development (LED). In order to be successfully mainstreamed and implemented the LED must be embodied within the legally prescribed Integrated Development Plans. In addition, the LED strategy must be incorporated within the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS). In this research an exploration of the Local Economic Development Programme on the Blue Crane Route Municipality with specific reference to Cookhouse was investigated. The primary aim of this study was to establish the views of the residents regarding their perceptions of the LED and its effects in terms of addressing current poverty related problems and their view on the proposed wind farm project, to investigate the proposed implementation process of LED project, specifically at Cookhouse. The second objective of this research was to present empirical data from both a questionnaire completed by 18 respondents and two interviews, that helps amplify and verify the impact of LED at BCRM. The question answered was whether the proposed wind farm will make an impact on the lives of the ordinary people at Cookhouse. The final objective of this research to identify the shortcomings in the LED development process in the BCRM and to make recommendations on feasible actions that could be employed to alleviate poverty. The findings of the research suggest that the proposed project should be evaluated taking the themes of social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable development into account. Also the findings of the research have noted that community members are not aware of what opportunities this project will bring to the community of Cookhouse. It should be noted that when this project was identified, the community was never consulted and now it’s very difficult at this stage to reject the project since there employment opportunities. Therefore local authorities are constitutionally obliged create space for community participation, which warrants accessibility and availability of information to local communities to enable to participate effectively.

The main objective of this study is to examine the long run relationship between stock market development and economic growth in the case of South Africa. The study used quarterly data covering the period from 1990Q1 to 2010Q4. To empirically test the link between the two variables, the study used the Johnson’s cointegration approach and Granger causality so as to test the direction of the relationship. The Vector Error Correction Model was also employed to capture both short run and long run dynamics. Generally, the results reveal that a long run relationship exists between the two variables and the causality flows from economic growth to stock market development. Also, the extent to which of stock market development impacts on growth is statistically weak.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions on the role of locally owned small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the economic development of Rustenburg, South Africa. The study was motivated by theoretical findings that SMMEs are the cornerstone of economic development; yet, the levels of unemployment and poverty were still escalating in Rustenburg. This prompted the researcher to investigate the perceptions on the role of locally owned small, medium and micro enterprises in the economic development of Rustenburg, South Africa, and the extent of their contribution. The study adopted a descriptive research design and a quantitative approach to determine the role of SMMEs and the extent of their contribution to the economic development of Rustenburg. The study focused on Rustenburg, which had 223 registered SMMEs at the time. The registered 213 SMMEs were identified as the target population of the study, and 10 registered SMMEs participated in the pilot study. A structured questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. Two hundred and thirteen (213) copies of questionnaires were self-administered. One hundred and eighty-two (182) completed questionnaires were returned, which represented an 85% response rate. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data by utilising the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS). Statistical techniques used in this study comprised frequency analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s correlation test, and Tukey’s studentised range test. Empirical findings revealed that SMMEs play a significant role in contributing to the economic development, employment generation and poverty reduction of Rustenburg, with SMMEs in the mining sector making a greater and more significant contribution than other sectors. The study concluded that SMMEs perform a critical role in contributing to the economic development of Rustenburg, especially those in the mining sector. Recommendations were that government should consider increasing the development programmes for SMMEs that operate in Rustenburg, invest in SMMEs’ technology and provide practical SMMEs development training. In addition, government should provide sufficient funding for SMMEs and improve the regulatory framework that governs the SMME sector. This particular study focused on SMMEs operating in Rustenburg. Another study could be conducted on foreign-owned SMMEs. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Thesis (M. Com. (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / International trade has been identified by many economists to be an engine for growth and development. There has been an increase in the number of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements across the globe. Trade has gained significant attention among developed and developing countries and it hugely attributed to the impact of technology and globalisation. The study employs autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to analyse The effects of international trade on economic growth in South Africa from (2000Q1 to 2017Q1) and economic review. The quarterly time series data from 2000Q1 to 2017Q1 is sourced from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and Quantec Easy Data. This study is envisaged to provide a better understanding on the relationship between South African economic growth and international trade. The findings brought light on how growth can be improved in South Africa. The unit root tests indicate a mixture of I(0) and I(1) variables which implied the employment of the ARDL approach. The cointegration model emphasizes the long-run equilibrium relationship between the dependant and independent variables. The findings reveal that exchange rate and import are positively related with GDP while one export is negatively related to it. The conclusion from this work is that there is correlation between GDP and its regressors. Since the results show that South African export have negative impact on growth, it is recommended that South African government must promote trading of goods and services internally and not focus much on exporting its primary goods and services abroad because it weakens the economy. It is recommended that South Africa must produce or export according to the need of the industry, so that the country benefit in return. Lastly, it is recommended that South Africa must support local industries and firms to create more employment opportunities and start programmes that will make youth to be active in businesses and reduce over reliance to the government.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study focuses on a critical analysis of sustainability of Local Economic Development (LED) projects in Mutale Municipality in Limpopo Province of South Africa. It furthermore investigates the extent to which the projects sustain project members. Based on an extensive review of the literature, the study explains an understanding of the emerging trends and challenges in sustainability of LED projects nationally and internationally. A mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods is used. The data were collected by means of unstructured interviews and questionnaires from purposively sampled project members and local economic development officers who came from randomly selected projects. The study demonstrates that while there are some benefits derived by LED project members, to a large extent, the projects are not sustainable. LED is not prioritized in terms of resource allocation by the Municipality. In addition, inadequacies of members‘ capacity in leadership and management also retard sustainability. It is therefore recommended that the Municipality has to prioritise LED in terms of resource allocation and building capacity of beneficiaries in management and other business-related competencies.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The study focuses on implementation challenges of Local Economic Development (LED) programmes within Molemole Local Municipality in Limpopo Province. The specific focus areas of the study are Mogwadi and Matoks, where attention was given to Molemole Indigenous Food Processing Cooperative and Sekwena Arts and Craft Project. This study was undertaken as an attempt to investigate challenges pertaining to implementation of LED programmes within Molemole Local Municipality (MLM). Data was collected through questionnaires, documentary analysis of published municipal documents such as Annual Performance Plans, Annual Reports, IDP and LED Strategy of MLM covering the period of 2009/2010 to 2013/2014. Site visits to selected LED projects sites were also undertaken. The overall findings in this study indicate that there is generally a poor understanding of the LED concept in MLM. These findings further point out that there are a number of challenges hindering effective implementation of LED programmes that include inter alia lack of local government collaboration with the private sector and community sectors, lack of appropriate structures for the full implementation and success of LED initiatives, inadequate funding for LED programmes and capacity constraints emanating from a constrained education and ultimately skills void. In view of these findings, some of the recommendations include addressing skewed skills levels of LED staff across the municipality to achieve LED policy objectives, collaboration of Molemole Local Municipality with the private sector and community sectors in order for them to play a meaningful role in LED initiatives, a need for financial support to facilitate LED implementation within the municipality, and remedial action in respect of awareness, and publicity initiatives being stepped up to address the problem of general poor understanding of the LED concept in MLM.

This study was motivated by low rates of economic growth and insufficient investment in infrastructure to balance infrastructure backlogs and growth that the South African economy has been facing in recent years. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of disaggregated government investment and consumption spending on economic growth in South Africa using the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique and Error Correction Model (ECM). Annual time series data spanning the period 1983– 2017 was employed. Earlier studies conducted in South Africa measured the impact of aggregated government expenditure on economic growth using different methodologies, including estimating procedures, model specifications and time frames. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to study the effect of disaggregated government investment spending on the South African economy. This study, therefore, examines the disaggregated government spending on education, health, defence and social protection along with other control variables. The ARDL cointegration test result indicates the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables. The estimated ECM model reveals that the short-run impact of each explanatory variable is significant in explaining changes in economic growth in South Africa. These results will enable the spheres of government to formulate and adjust economic development policies that will produce the needed economic growth in line with the radical economic transformation programme in South Africa. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

MENVSC / Department of Geography and Geo-Information Sciences / Department of Geography and Geo-Information Sciences

The evidence from both international and local literature reviews shows that, informal settlement upgrading is a global practice. The adoption (although at a minimal scale) of informal settlement upgrading programs and related policies in developing countries (South Africa included), should in the main be understood within a twofold context- first, is a failed policy on conventional public housing model, second, is a subsequent role and influence of theoretical writings of JFC Turner on informal settlement upgrading as a possible policy alternative to conventional public housing in 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, evidence from empirical study findings in Soshanguve Extension 3 area present some interesting results. Amongst others, is the extent to which implementation of upgrading project in Soshanguve Extension 3 area seems to have promoted a generally acceptable access level to certain basic service and housing infrastructure. This despite the project implementation being criticized for its deviation from certain key housing policy principles including those (principles) underpinning theoretical writings of Turner on informal settlement upgrading. Using both literature and empirical findings, the study has, in a nutshell, succeeded in presenting a balanced reflection on strengths and weaknesses in the general performance of informal settlement upgrading projects in developing context particularly South Africa. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)