Governing Cities in Africa

Politics and Policies

Aquino de Bragança was a close advisor to Samora Machel, former president of Mozambique. Both lost their lives when their plane crashed at Mbuzini in October 1986.

Born in Goa, fluent in French as well as Portuguese, and trained as a scientist, Aquino dedicated his life to the liberation struggles of southern Africa. He was a militant journalist, an academic, a diplomat, and a public intellectual. His skill in sensitive and discreet political negotiation earned him the nickname ‘the submarine’ and he played a key role in Frelimo’s early contacts with the Portuguese, leading eventually to independence in 1975.

Neva Again: Hip Hop Art, Activism and Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa is the culmination of decades of work on Hip Hop culture and Hip Hop activism in South Africa. It speaks to the emergence and development of a unique style of Hip Hop hip-hop activism in the Western and Eastern Capes of South Africa.

The Africa in Focus series is an initiative of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) that creates a forum for African scholars to frame research questions and examine critical issues affecting the African continent in the 21^st century. The series should inspire robust debate to help inform the orientation of public policy in Africa.

The nature of competitive rivalry, and the power and interests of large firms and their owners, is at the heart of how countries develop. Large firms shape the economy as these firms can make the investments required in productive capacity, provide the upstream inputs and services required by smaller businesses and, in many areas, are also the main routes to market. At the same time these firms tend to have market power if competition between them is weak. In crude terms, it is critical whether these firms are able to focus on extracting rents through market power, or whether the returns reward their effort, creativity and entrepreneurship. Competition authorities and economic regulators are critical institutions in restraining the market power of firms while at the same tie taking into account the need to incentivise investment.

The book maps out key issues in competition through four key industry studies across Southern and East Africa. It considers the nature and extent of market power, the development of large firms, their production, investment and the prices of products across countries. This takes into account the work of competition authorities in the different countries and the implications of industrial policies. The concluding chapter draws out critical implications for competition, regional integration and economic development. This fills a big gap as there are no similar publications relating to this important topic.