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Alan Hirsch

Professor and Director of the Graduate School of Development Policy, University of Cape Town

I have been director of the Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice at University of Cape Town (UCT) since 2013. I was born in Cape Town and educated in Economics, Economic History and History at UCT, Wits and Columbia. After economic research and teaching at the University of Cape Town, I joined the South African Department of Trade and Industry in 1995, managing industry and technology policy. I moved to the Presidency in 2002. I managed economic policy in the South African Presidency, represented the Presidency at the G20, and was co-chair of the G20 Development Working Group. I have served or serve on several boards, and am associated with a range of policy research initiatives including the TIPS, the International Growth Centre for which I was until recently the Zambia Country Director, and the European Centre for Development Policy Management where I am a board member. I was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School, a regular visiting professor at the Graduate School of Governance at Maastricht University and a member of the OECD Secretary-General’s Inclusive Growth Advisory Group. I write about economic development issues, including Season of Hope - Economic Reform under Mandela and Mbeki and recently co-edited The Oxford Companion to South African Economics.

Free movement of people across Africa: regions are showing how it can work

Jan 24, 2023 07:58 am UTC| Business Economy

The end of January 2023 will mark five years since the African Union Free Movement of Persons protocol was signed by the African Union. A parallel initiative to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, it was designed...

South Africa has a new presidential advisory unit. Will it improve policy?

May 20, 2019 22:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa is establishing a unit in the presidency which he hopes will improve policy development and coordination. This is an important initiative designed to help him address the huge...

The free movement of people is an AU ambition: what's standing in its way

Aug 01, 2018 14:58 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The African integration project took several major steps this year. One of them was the African Unions adoption of a protocol on the free movement of people. The move has been widely welcomed. The free movement of...

South Africa's Reserve Bank is in the eye of a storm. Academics quiz the governor

May 16, 2017 16:39 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy Central Banks

Central banks everywhere play a critical role in shaping the direction of a countrys economy. The South African Reserve Bank is the central bank of South Africa. Its main mandates are to ensure financial and economic...

Africa is poised for sustainable growth and development. But there are risks

Jan 08, 2017 23:37 pm UTC| Insights & Views

As we know, growth accelerations are pretty commonplace among developing countries. Economist Ricardo Haussman and his colleagues identified 83 growth accelerations of eight consecutive years at 2% higher than the...

Economy

Taiwan Stock Market Ends Higher as Semiconductor and Energy Shares Lead Gains

Taiwan stocks closed higher on Thursday, supported by broad-based gains across key sectors including semiconductors, oil, gas and electricity, as well as construction. The Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index finished the...

BOJ Governor Signals Gradual Rate Hikes as Japan’s Inflation Nears 2% Target

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said Japans underlying inflation is steadily accelerating and moving closer to the central banks long-standing 2% target, reinforcing expectations that interest rate hikes will continue if...

UBS Warns of Short-Term Risks as Precious Metals Rally to Record Highs

Gold, silver, and platinum have surged to fresh record highs heading into the year-end holiday period, drawing strong attention across global commodity markets. However, UBS is urging investors to exercise caution, warning...

Japan Revises Economic Growth Forecast as Stimulus Fuels Consumption and Investment

Japans government has revised upward its economic growth forecast for the fiscal year ending next March and projected faster expansion in the following year, citing the positive impact of a large-scale stimulus package...

U.S. Stocks Rally to Record Highs as AI Rebound Fuels Holiday-Shortened Session

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the SP 500 finishing at record closing highs during a broad-based rally in a holiday-shortened trading session. All three major indexes...

Politics

U.S. Prioritizes Economic Pressure With Venezuelan Oil Quarantine as Sanctions Intensify

The United States has shifted its near-term military focus toward enforcing a so-called quarantine on Venezuelan oil exports, signaling a strategy that prioritizes economic pressure over direct military confrontation....

Hanwha Signals Readiness to Build Nuclear-Powered Submarines at Philly Shipyard for U.S. Navy

Hanwha Group has announced that its Philadelphia-based shipyard has the technical capability to build nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy, highlighting the South Korean conglomerates growing ambitions in the...

China’s One-Child Policy Legacy Resurfaces After Death of Former Population Chief

The death of Peng Peiyun, a former senior Chinese official who oversaw the countrys one-child policy for a decade, has reignited fierce debate on Chinese social media about the long-term impact of the controversial...

Christmas Eve Jazz Concert Canceled After Kennedy Center Renaming to Include Trump

A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has been canceled following a controversial decision to rename the iconic performing arts institution to include the name of Republican U.S....

Palau Agrees to Accept Up to 75 U.S.-Transferred Migrants in Deal Tied to Increased American Aid

Palau has agreed to accept up to 75 migrants transferred from the United States after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Washington, a move that has drawn international attention amid ongoing debate over U.S....

Science

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Senate Sets December 8 Vote on Trump’s NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced it will vote on December 8 on President Donald Trumps renewed nomination of private astronaut and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman, known for his...

NASA Cuts Boeing Starliner Missions as SpaceX Pulls Ahead

NASA has significantly scaled back Boeings Starliner program after years of technical issues and delays, announcing that the next Starliner mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will fly without astronauts. The...

Blue Origin’s New Glenn Achieves Breakthrough Success With First NASA Mission

Blue Origins massive New Glenn rocket marked a major milestone as it completed its first mission for paying customers, sending two NASA satellites toward Mars and successfully landing its reusable booster at sea. The...

Cogent Biosciences Soars 120% on Breakthrough Phase 3 Results for Bezuclastinib in GIST Treatment

Cogent Biosciences (NASDAQ: COGT) shares skyrocketed over 120% after the biotech company announced groundbreaking results from its Phase 3 PEAK trial evaluating bezuclastinib in combination with sunitinib for patients with...

Technology

Nvidia to Acquire Groq in $20 Billion Deal to Boost AI Chip Dominance

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has reportedly agreed to acquire Groq, a fast-growing designer of high-performance artificial intelligence accelerator chips, in a $20 billion all-cash transaction, according to a CNBC report. The...

Texas App Store Age Verification Law Blocked by Federal Judge in First Amendment Ruling

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the enforcement of a new state law that would have required app stores and developers to verify users ages, marking a significant legal win for major technology companies and digital...

FTC Praises Instacart for Ending AI Pricing Tests After $60M Settlement

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has welcomed Instacarts decision to end its artificial intelligence-based price testing, a move that follows weeks of consumer backlash and regulatory scrutiny. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson...

John Carreyrou Sues Major AI Firms Over Alleged Copyrighted Book Use in AI Training

Investigative journalist John Carreyrou, widely known for exposing fraud at Silicon Valley blood-testing startup Theranos and for authoring the bestselling book Bad Blood, has filed a new copyright infringement lawsuit...

Italy Fines Apple €98.6 Million Over App Store Dominance

Italys competition authority has imposed a 98.6 million ($115.53 million) fine on U.S. technology giant Apple and two of its subsidiaries, citing alleged abuse of a dominant market position related to the distribution of...