加强南非商业环境的结构性改革（英）

Structural Reforms toBolster South Africa’sBusiness Environment Tidiane Kinda and Nasha Mavee SIP/2026/017 IMF Selected Issues Papers are prepared by IMF staff asbackground documentation for periodic consultations withmember countries.It is based on the information available atthe time it was completed on January 21, 2026. This paper isalso published separately as IMF Country Report No 26/35 2026MAR IMF Selected Issues PaperAfrican Department Structural Reforms to Bolster South Africa’s Business EnvironmentPrepared by Tidiane Kinda and Nasha Mavee Authorized for distribution by Delia VelculescuMarch2026 IMF Selected Issues Papersare prepared by IMF staff as background documentation for periodicconsultations with member countries.It is based on the information available at the time it wascompleted on January 21, 2026. This paper is also published separately as IMF Country Report No 26/35. ABSTRACT:South Africa stands out as having one of the most restrictive business environments amongpeers. Burdensome government regulations, especially for licensing and permitting, weak procurementpractices, and limited competition can pose risks to business confidence and investment, stifle innovation,increase compliance costs. Because they burden small firms disproportionately, they particularly inhibit jobcreation potential. Our econometric analysis, using cross-country firm-level data, finds that product marketregulations, notably related to licensing and permitting, hinder firms’ growth and productivity. This is particularlytrue for South African firms, and especially small firms, where a high regulatory burden is associated withslower sales growth, weaker employment growth, and lower productivity. Building on these results, the paperidentifies specific product-market reforms that could help boost business dynamism and job creation, therebycontributing to addressing South Africa’s weak growth and high unemployment. RECOMMENDED CITATION:Kinda, Tidiane and Mavee, Nasha. (2026). Structural Reforms to Bolster SouthAfrica’s Business Environment. IMF Selected Issues Paper, African Department, SIP/2026/17, WashingtonD.C.: International Monetary Fund. Structural Reforms to BolsterSouth Africa’s BusinessEnvironment South Africa Prepared by Tidiane Kinda and Nasha Mavee1 A. Background 1.South Africa’s growth has been too weak for too long. After a strong performance in the firstdecade following the end of Apartheid (1994-2007) when annual growth averaged 3.6 percent, output growthhas been lackluster. Average real growth of below 1 percent between 2008 and 2024 has led to a decline inreal per capita income to its 2007 level and an erosion of living standards for average South Africans. Theanemic growth environment has also hindered efforts to address persistent social legacies of apartheid andfailed to meet the employment aspirations of old and new generations. The country’s weak growth performance has been attributed to entrenched structural rigidities. These include inefficient state-owned enterprises operating in key sectors of the economy withassociated recurrent infrastructure breakdowns, eroded state capacity, and high levels of bureaucracy.2Moreover, product-market rigidities have been identified as a major contributor to low business dynamism andsubdued employment opportunities (OECD, 2025a). Several empirical studies have illustrated that regulatoryconstraints have hindered market participation and firm growth in South Africa (Owoseni and AhwirengObeng,2024; World Bank, 2025). Thakoor (2020) highlighted that historically, firms in South Africa have used theirmarket power to drive up prices and limit competition, stifling innovation and entrepreneurship. 3.South Africa stands out as having one of the most restrictive business environments acrossall OECD countries and G20 emerging economies(Figure 1). Burdensome administrative procedures,including communication and simplification of administrative and regulatory burden; interaction withstakeholders; regulations and competition impact evaluation; tariff barriers; barriers to entry in Service andnetwork sectors; as well as administrative and regulatory burdens are among the key factors of South Africa’srestrictive business environment (Figure 2; OECD, 2025a; OECD, 2025b; Medici 2025). Firms in South Africa,particularly SMEs, see business regulations, financing constraints and inadequate infrastructure as the topconstraints they face in their operations (Figure 3). South Africa’s gap to the business regulation frontier islarge and has widened since 2010, especially for bureaucratic costs and administrative requirements,increasing compliance costs, and burdening small and medium enterprises (SMEs) disproportionately(IMF, 2025). 4.Product-market reforms could deliver significant growth gains for South Africa. IMF (2025)highlighted that South Africa exhibits a significant gap to the business regulation frontier, particularly in relationwith bureaucratic costs