South Africa has the third freest economy in sub-Saharan Africa and is ranked the 52nd most free in the world, the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom has found.
Mauritius and Botswana led the sub-Saharan scores in the 13th Heritage Foundation-Wall Street Journal index report, which measured 157 countries across 10 economic freedom levels.
At the Johannesburg launch of the report, foundation co-chairperson Dr Timothy Kane said that more could be done to further South African economic freedoms, notwithstanding its current rankings.
Africa lacked a role model when it came to promoting economic freedoms, he said.
South Africa’s overall score of 64,1 was much higher than the regional average and the country had ”fairly high levels” of business, fiscal and monetary freedoms, and freedom from the government.
The 408 page report’s profile on South Africa said it had the most developed financial system on the continent.
The government had worked to increase the transparency of commercial regulations, corporate taxes were relatively moderate despite high income tax rates, and the overall tax revenue was moderate as a percentage of GDP.
Inflation was low and the government subsidised the market price of only a few staple goods.
Areas for improvement lay in investment freedom, property rights and freedom from corruption.
The judicial system was slow, mainly because of understaffing and inefficiency, the report said.
Race laws and unclear regulation hampered foreign investment but the legal environment was free from political interference and the threat of expropriation.
Sub-Saharan Africa had slipped behind rather than advanced in popular material wellbeing over the past half-century.
Average GDP per capita was the lowest of any region and barely one-tenth of average incomes in Europe and the Americas.
At 154 in the world, Zimbabwe’s economy scored the lowest in the region with 35,8% freedom.
In a background paragraph, South Africa was described as the economic hub of sub-Saharan Africa, where it accounted for one third of regional GDP.
Economic reform had been introduced over the last decade and growth had improved. Obstacles to long-term growth and stability included crime, HIV/Aids and high unemployment.
Powerful unions were said to oppose labour market liberalisation and privatisation was undermined by failure to include large state-owned enterprises.
Hong Kong scored top of the index, followed by Singapore and Australia. North Korea was bottom of the list at 157.
The 10 factors of economic freedom measured were: business, trade, fiscal, monetary, investment, financial and labour freedoms, freedom from government, freedom from corruption, and property rights. — Sapa