Brexit: a View From Johannesburg – Article for Human Economy Blog

This post is a translation and an adaptation of the Italian-speaking radio report that was broadcast on 28 June on Radio Bullets.
By Gaia Manco
The UK vote in favour of leaving the European Union has consequences that reach the far south of Africa. South Africa, from where I am writing, appears as one of the countries that would suffer the most from the consequences of Brexit. The local currency, the South African Rand, whose value has been falling for a year, kept loosing ground against the dollar after the results of the vote were revealed.
This is due to the uncertainty of financial markets, but also to the fact that trade with the UK is crucial for the South African economy and it is designed to stagnate while South Africa and UK renegotiate trade agreements, which are regulated by EU-South Africa agreements at the moment.
South Africa and other southern African countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland – have signed a trade agreement with the EU last month. The deal includes the protection of commercial names of South African flagship products, such as rooibos tea and Stellenbosch wine.

Brexit will have a significant impact, because… Read the full article on the Human Economy blog

Details

Date: 1.7.2016
Type: Article (online)
Language: English
Outlet: Human Economy Blog
Place: Johannesburg, South Africa