The New Growth Path

Development, Part 8c

Ebrahim Patel

The New Growth Path

On 23 November 2010 South Africa’s Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel, introduced “The New Growth Path” (NGP). His four-page introduction is attached.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies had issued the 2010/11 – 2012/13 “Industrial Policy Action Plan” ("IPAP2") earlier in the same year (18 February 2010), as we noted yesterday.

On 30 April 2010 the 24 members of the National Planning Commission were appointed, with an expectation that they would work publicly and transparently to produce a 25-year National Strategic Plan and/or a 5-year Medium Term Strategic Framework within one year, with subsequent annual updates.

The last to publish their projections was the National Planning Commission, not counting the two earlier (and quite instructive) Green Papers published by the National Planning Minister and Commission Chair, Trevor Manuel, which have already been sent out in this part. We will return to the National Development Plan in the next part of the course.

The Soviet Union’s “GOELRO” plan is the grandfather of all such plans. Here is an image of it, with a link to further reading about it:

GOELRO Plan document, 1920

The struggle continues.

           

Image: Ebrahim Patel; GOELRO Plan document, 1920.

·        The above is to introduce the original reading-text: The New Growth Path Framework, 2010.