South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to lower South Africa's high unemployment rate; and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. High crime and HIV/AIDS infection rates also deter investment. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative, but pragmatic, focusing on targeting inflation and liberalizing trade as means to increase job growth and household income.¹⁰⁶

GDP per capita is Intl $7,538. This falls within the range of $8,272 ( Libya) and $346 ( Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the countries of Africa (Table 22).

Table 22 GDP per capita (Intl $): countries of Africa, 2001

Source WHO