Financial Enterprise In South Africa Since 1950

South Africa has undergone a financial revolution since 1950 when the financial structure was colonial. By 1990 the situation had changed and new institutions emerged. This book looks at some of these institutions including the first Afrikaner banks, merchant banks and discount houses.

Settler Economies in World History is a comparative, wide-ranging historical study of the experience of the modern settler societies that have followed a distinctive economic and institutional path to the present from their neo-European origins.

This book will surely be the most readable, best informed, most complete account of Harry Oppenheimer's life there is ever likely to be.' – Bill Nasson, historian and author As chairman of Anglo American and De Beers, Harry Oppenheimer held sway over his family's gold and diamond empire for a quarter of a century. He combined a passion for commerce with a streak of creative genius. In this, the first comprehensive biography of Oppenheimer, Michael Cardo has produced a vivid portrait based on unrestricted access to his subject's private papers and interviews with Oppenheimer's relatives and associates. Cardo brings to life the places, people and events that shaped Oppenheimer's career at the intersection of business and politics. From the diamond fields of Kimberley, where his father, Ernest, arrived to seek his fortune in 1902, through his long apprenticeship as heir apparent, to Harry Oppenheimer's emergence on the world stage as a magnate and monarch in his own right – the 'King of Diamonds' and the man with the Midas touch – Cardo tells the story of a dynasty. As a financier, philanthropist and public figure, Oppenheimer straddles the history of 20th-century South Africa. In the 1950s the National Party regarded him as a threat to Afrikanerdom, the sinister embodiment of English 'money power'. Forty years later, Nelson Mandela praised Oppenheimer as a nation-builder, a key figure in South Africa's transition to democracy. Yet nowadays, Oppenheimer is demonised in some quarters as the archetype of 'white monopoly capital' and blamed, in part, for democracy's disappointing dividends. Meticulously researched and superbly written, this authoritative work sheds new light on the multifaceted legacy of a renowned South African industrialist.

The theme of the book is how efficient economic organisation with clearly defined property rights in the framework of a market economy has made possible the development of the South African economy. The book is divided into three periods: 1910-33, 1933-61 and 1961-90. Each of them begins with a brief survey of the growth of population and GDP which is then followed by a more detailed sectoral analysis. The book represents an important general survey of the South African economy in the twentieth century and as such will be required reading for all interested in the making of the modern South African economy.

This book explores a century of business development of The South African Life Assurance Company, from a specific local focus to a national conglomerate expanding into global insurance markets. Established as a strategic vehicle to address Afrikaner economic marginalization and abject poverty at the beginning of the twentieth century, Sanlam has displayed both path dependence and a dynamic adaptability to complex changing contexts to become a global player. The strategic convergence of economic empowerment through the mobilization of savings into insurance products, as well as Afrikaner nationalism, assisted this growth. Sanlam has played an a-typical role in the economic empowerment of an ethnic entity through extensive investments into the industrializing South African economy. This strategic diversion created operational limitations that were only resolved early in the twenty-first century. As globalization, financial deregulation, and weakened Afrikaner political and social hegemony manifested, strategic change management relied on the path dependence of empowerment strategies to address new markets with similar needs to those of the early stakeholder market of 1918. The former mutual life office demutualized operations to become a diversified financial services group of companies operating across almost the entire African continent, as well as in India, Malaysia, and the UK. This volume presents a business history of strategic management of an insurance enterprise, and its transformation from a defined cultural context into an international empowerment strategy through innovation on all levels of business operation and organization. This book is an Open Access publication, available online under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

This book argues that South Africa experienced extensive periods of trade liberalisation in the 1970s and 1980s. It discusses the libertarian analysis of state failure, particularly the libertarian argument that market failures are less serious and less extensive than was once thought.

This book sheds new light on the role played by European banks in the economic colonization of much of the globe. Based on previously unused archival material, it examines the origins and development of imperial banking systems. Contributors utilize new developments and methodology in business history to explore a broad range of countries including Cuba, Brazil, Portugal, South Africa and Algeria. The central topic of interest in this book is the institutional history of central, issuing and rediscounting banks. While much attention has been paid to the British, Dutch and French banks and financial instituions, this book is unique in its focus on colonial and overseas banking. Using a range of case studies, this book highlights both the immense variety and cohesion that defined colonial banking practices. This book will be of interest to researchers concerned with international finance and banking and economic history.

As the most influential and powerful country on the entire continent of Africa, an understanding of South Africa’s past and its present trends is crucial in appreciating where South Africans are going to, and from where they have come. South Africa changed dramatically in 1994 when apartheid was dismantled, and it became a democratic state. Since 2000, when the previous edition appeared, further big changes occurred, with the rise of new political leaders and of a new black middle class. There were also serious problems in governance, in public health, and the economy, but with a remarkable popular resilience too. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of South Africa contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 600 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about South Africa.