When the apartheid regime ceded power following South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, the economy was in shambles. Debt service costs as a share of GDP were crippling.

Development

Trevor Manuel Reflects on South Africa's Lost Decade

Trevor Manuel

June 10, 2021

Trevor Manuel says while it may be the same party in power, it's a very different country.
  • When the apartheid regime ceded power following South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, the economy was in shambles. Debt service costs as a share of GDP were crippling.
Trevor Manuel - Trevor Manuel Reflects on South Africa's Lost Decade
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In This Episode

When the apartheid regime ceded power following South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, the economy was in shambles. Debt service costs as a share of GDP were crippling. Trevor Manuel—a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle and appointed minister of finance—revamped the budgeting process and set a stringent deficit reduction target. By 2006, the economy was growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades. In this podcast, Manuel looks back at what drove the country's longest phase of economic growth and how he believes the ruling party he helped establish has lost its way. Transcript  

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Trevor Manuel served as a Cabinet Minister under the first four Presidents of democratic South Africa and was the country's longest-serving finance minister.

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