What sectors are driving the South African economy?
South Africa is largely a resource-based economy and the commodity boom in the past two years just lifted the economic growth to a new high. We still have very large reserves of base metals and precious metals like platinum, vanadium, gold and other rare earth minerals. Although mining has dipped in the last year as global economies have slowed, we still hold a major market share in many of these commodities. In the last 15 years the country has focused on diversifying its mining base and also enhanced manufacturing capabilities. Today, 25% to 30% of the countrys exports are manufactured exports that have higher composition of technology. The services sector in the economy is 65% of the GDP with the financial and tourism segments dominating. This has increased disposable income as well as retail consumption. In the last 25 years the economy has expanded four times and international trade has increased by the same amount. The GDP per capita in 2008 was $5,500 and $10,000 on a purchasing
