🎥 What stood out after two days of the #SATIED Close-Out Conference?
This video captures the perspectives that made the conversation what it was, from new analytical approaches to the value of working across institutions and policy areas.
Learn more: go.unu.edu/4LgfU
After a decade of policy-shaping research, #SATIED enters Phase III! 🎉
The partnership between National Treasury of South Africa, SARS & UNU-WIDER, supported by the EU & UK, will deepen evidence, expand 🇿🇦 data systems & strengthen state capacity.
More: go.unu.edu/Pmj66
Two days. Four years. One idea: policy must be grounded in evidence. The SA-TIED Phase II Close-Out Conference wrapped today — from data infrastructure to reform implementation. Thank you to all speakers, partners & participants. #SATIED
What do bond markets say about inflation?
New #SATIED research finds long-term inflation expectations are slowly moving closer to the South African Reserve Bank’s target band, while inflation risk has fallen since 2021.
Learn more: go.unu.edu/fObj7
Picture of South African cityscape, with SATIED logo over it and text "Blog: What economists see in South Africa's 2026 budget"
Across many economies, stabilising public finances has become a central priority.
An #SATIED & Econ3x3 article brings together perspectives from four economists on what South Africa’s 2026 Budget signals for the fiscus, tax reform & infrastructure.
🔗 go.unu.edu/R97XF
Workers in an industrial setting assemble machinery parts. SA-TIED logo and text that reads Legacy of apartheid, Misallocation of labour and firm productivity.
📢 New #SATIED research shows that labour market restrictions under apartheid are linked to persistent labour misallocation in South Africa , highlighting how historical policies can leave lasting economic footprints.
Read more go.unu.edu/eUoNs
Picture of windmills during sunset. Over it, SA-TIED logo and text Financing a resilient low-carbon society in South Africa
When climate transitions falter, the bottleneck is often not policy, but implementation.
A new #SATIED blog looks at what South Africa reveals about municipal resilience and the challenges of turning ambition into action.
Learn more🔗 go.unu.edu/Evxlr
How are difficult policy trade-offs navigated in practice across fiscal pressures, labour markets, and the energy transition? Join us at the SA-TIED Conference to engage with the conversations shaping reform in South Africa — the registation is now open!
Register here: go.unu.edu/OUx7X
#SATIED
What can we learn about economic progress beyond headline GDP?
New #SATIED research explores how high-frequency indicators, from electricity to transactions, could complement official statistics and offer earlier insight into economic shifts.
🔗https://go.unu.edu/K3MC1
📢 Join us for the 2026 #SATIED Conference 23–24 March!
This year’s theme, Evidence in Action: Advancing Inclusive Economic Growth, brings together leading voices to explore how evidence, data, and institutions shape South Africa’s economic reform agenda.
Register now: go.unu.edu/OUx7X
Picture of a computer screen with a presentation slide on the VAT gap in South Africa as the title. On the right side of the screen, picture of Mamiky Leolo as a speaker.
A valueable exchange this week at a virtual seminar on VAT & CIT gap research for 🇿🇦. Researchers & policymakers engaged on compliance risks & how tax gap insights can inform audits, monitoring & analytical approaches. Co-organised by the South African Revenue Service & #SATIED
go.unu.edu/TPpGl
What shapes women’s decisions to work when unemployment remains high?
New #SATIED research explores how married & cohabiting women respond to changes in their own and their partners’ potential earnings & how these responses have shifted over time.
🔗https://go.unu.edu/Y3Rv9
Image of a busy port with cranes and ships, featuring text about a seminar on port reform and competition in Southern Africa.
How should ports be reformed to promote rivalry rather than monopoly?
In this #SATIED seminar, Ryan Hawthorne discusses South Africa’s port reform experience, with a focus on concession design and regulatory trade-offs.
🎥 Watch here: go.unu.edu/PQHIx
Graphic that shares a vacancy announcement for a Data Scientist (PSA), SA-TIED programme. The vacancy is based in Pretoria, South Africa. Application deadline is 9 February.
✨ Starting 2026 with a new opportunity!
UNU-WIDER is hiring a Data Scientist for the #SATIED programme in Pretoria 🇿🇦. Work with administrative tax data to support evidence-based policy and inclusive development.
👉 Apply here: go.unu.edu/Z5KSu
Cover of a working paper from SA-TIED, titled "Demand for tariff change," featuring a port scene with cranes and ships.
How do tariff decisions translate into economic outcomes?
New #SATIED research shows:
➡️ Import surge claims rarely align with pre-application trade data➡️Tariff increases reallocate imports & raise earnings in beneficiary firms trade
Learn more ➡️ go.unu.edu/z5I9W
#SATIED research is in the media, with coverage focusing on the scale of investment required for South Africa’s energy transition and findings that green industrialisation is the least-cost pathway to net zero.
Read the coverage: go.unu.edu/76RKx
UNU-WIDER Director Kunal Sen speaking at the UNU-WIDER & SA-TIED reception in Johannesburg.
Guests in attendance at the UNU-WIDER & SA-TIED reception in Johannesburg. On the screen, video featuring Amartya Sen plays.
Guests in attendance at the UNU-WIDER & SA-TIED reception in Johannesburg.
Guests in attendance at the UNU-WIDER & SA-TIED reception in Johannesburg.
In September, we gathered with #SATIED programme partners in Johannesburg to mark our 40th anniversary and long-standing partnerships in South Africa.
The event highlighted that lasting policy impact grows from long-term collaboration and shared commitment to evidence. #WIDER40 #2025recap
Across many economies, the challenge is moving from reform plans to sustained and inclusive growth.
A new #SATIED Working Paper uses South Africa’s experience to explore how reforms in investment, employment & state capability could work.
🔗 go.unu.edu/biSPw
An office environment with multiple workstations, featuring the title "SA-TIED Working Paper" on lessons for South Africa on unemployment rates.
How have countries successfully reduced unemployment, and what lessons travel across contexts?
New #SATIED research synthesises international experience and examines labour market reforms, trade-offs & what this evidence implies for South Africa’s labour market.
Learn more: go.unu.edu/nOzZW
Image of a SA-TIED working paper titled "Tax code complexity, tax adviser services, and firm outcomes," with tax documents pictured on a table and a coffee cup beside them.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵-𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀?
New research from our #SATIED programme shows many firms qualify, but admin demands and information gaps limit real take-up.
Read full Working Paper here: go.unu.edu/kK2to
Aerial view of a busy port in South Africa, showcasing container ships and cranes, with blog title about port reform competition.
If ports are the gateways of an economy, what happens when those gateways slow down?
In our latest #SATIED blog, economist Ryan Hawthorne argues that competition may be key to turning them around.
Learn more➡️ go.unu.edu/aQh3b
What insights emerge when policymakers & researchers rethink #WEFNexus?
Here’s a look at a recent dialogue co-hosted by the SARChI–TRCTI, #SATIED & Centre for Sustainability Transitions, where partners explored funding gaps, policy experimentation & collaboration.
📽️ Full video: go.unu.edu/oXG8M
Reliable long-term data is important for understanding how jobs, incomes, & living conditions change over time. Today, DataFirst & our #SATIED programme launched two harmonised datasets built from three decades of Stats SA surveys.
Download the datasets here▶️ go.unu.edu/8JETo
Cover page of the report "South Africa's evergy sector investment requirements to achieve energy security and net zero goals by 2050."
With climate ambition in focus at #COP30, a new study with our #SATIED programme outlines South Africa’s path to energy security & net zero.
Insights:
🍀Green industrialisation is lowest cost
⚡️Grid expansion needed
👨🏭 Coal-region workers will be affected
🔗 shorturl.at/R0cnT
Andrew Boraine chairs the session, speaking while seated at a round table with other participants listening.
Participants, including Georgina Ryan from SA-TIED, applaud during a presentation at the dialogue.
Participants take part in roundtable discussions during the dialogue, seated in small groups and engaging with the session materials.
Professor Erika Kraemer-Mbula (SARChI–TRCTI) and Mark Swilling (SA-TIED) review a chart together at the front of the room.
A #WEFNexus dialogue hosted by #SATIED, #TRCTI & Centre for Sustainability Transitions explored strengthening governance & investment across South Africa’s water–energy–food systems
Insights included:
➡️ Funding gaps
➡️ Policy experimentation
➡️ Cross-sector collaboration
🔗https://go.unu.edu/TSp49
During his visit to South Africa’s National Treasury Secure Data Facility, @ununiversity.bsky.social Rector Tshilidzi Marwala met colleagues from #SATIED to see how the programme transforms administrative data into research insights that inform economic policymaking.
More: go.unu.edu/plOLR
South Africa’s #EnergyTransition took centre stage at the launch of the Energy Sector Investment Requirements Report this week.
The study estimates R3.5–R4.1 trillion will be needed by 2050 to achieve affordable, low-carbon power.
Read more: go.unu.edu/1eqFT
#SATIED
Picture of a port in South Africa. Over it, an SA-TIED logo and text, Seminar "Reforming ports for rivalry: Lessons from competition and regulation in South Africa's port secort".
What does meaningful competition look like in South Africa's port sector?
At a recent #SATIED Seminar, Ryan Hawthorne unpacked how rivalry in port operations can boost efficiency, lower costs & strengthen trade.
📽️Watch the full seminar here: go.unu.edu/Ydg6t
Picture of wind farms in the sea, with an SA-TIED logo, and the text over it: "Working Paper: The Macroeconomic implications of the energy transition."
What happens to an economy when the energy system changes?
A new #SATIED paper explores how the energy transition will reshape jobs, investment & stability, and why new ways of thinking are needed to plan for it.
Read more:https://go.unu.edu/9erIZ
South Africa’s top 1% earned 16% of all income in 2021 — and it’s still climbing.
The real driver isn’t sectoral gaps, but within-firm inequality. What does that mean for policy?
A new #SATIED blog explores this. Read the blog here: go.unu.edu/UJO0A
