TIPS Forum 2026: New Directions in Industrialisation and Industrial Policy in Africa
4–5 August 2026 | Venue: IDC, Sandton | Hybrid Event
DAY ONE — 04 August 2026
08h00 – 09h00
Registration, tea and coffee (in-person) / Participants log in (virtual)
09h00 – 09h45 — Opening Panel Auditorium
Chair: Saul Levin (TIPS)
Rasmus Lema (SARChI, UJ), Pamela Mondliwa (IDC), Cheryl Hendricks (NMS)
09h45 – 11h15
SESSION 1Auditorium
Geopolitics, Trade Fragmentation and the Reshaping of Global Trade
Moderator: Itumeleng Mokoena (NT)
- Edna Kabala — Regulating International Trade in a Fragmenting Global Economy: Implications for Industrial Policy and Trade in Africa
- Michael Weluzani — The AfCFTA, US Tariffs, and China's Strategic Role in Global Trade
- Zamokwakhe Somhlaba — Trade Fragmentation, Geopolitical Shock, and African Industrial Policy: AfCFTA, US Tariff Activism, and Systemic Risk
SESSION 2Breakaway
AfCFTA, Tariffs and Regional Trade Policy
Moderator: Noncedo Vutula (NMS)
- Leseko Makhetha — AfCFTA Tariff Liberalisation and Fiscal Stability: A SMART Simulation Analysis of Revenue Implications for SACU
- Gillian Chigumira — Pressure and Policy Response: South Africa's Horticulture Trade with SADC, the EU and the USA
- Godfrey Kamutando — Trade under Duress: Assessing South Africa's Trade Diversification towards China in Response to U.S. Tariff Actions
- Makibinyane Thoso — Integrated Compliance Systems as Industrial Policy Infrastructure: Supporting AfCFTA Regional Value Chains and Industrial Development in Southern Africa
11h15 – 11h45 — TEA BREAK
11h45 – 13h15
SESSION 3Auditorium
Rethinking Industrial Policy: Approaches, Constraints and Comparative Lessons
Moderator: Vuyiswa Mkhabela (IDC)
- Dale Trimble — Re-thinking Industrial Policy in Africa: Inclusion, Employment and the Limits of Growth-Led Strategies
- Gerald Macheka — Industrial Policy Under Constraint: Currency Instability and the Limits of Industrialisation in Southern Africa
- Kanika Karwal [online, India] — Industrial Policy Space and WTO Reform: An Indian Perspective within the Developing Country Framework
- Nicholas Mudungwe [online, Ethiopia] — The Implications of New Approaches to Industrial Policy for Economic Growth and Industrial Development: A Multi-Country Comparative Study with Lessons for South Africa and Africa
SESSION 4Breakaway
Industrial Policy, Diversification and Sectoral Strategies
Moderator: Rendani Mamphiswana (iCatalysis Hub)
- Kiru Sichoongwe — Leveraging Industrial Policy for Economic Diversification in Zambia
- Nomthandazo Mpande — Reframing Industrial Policy in Africa: Inclusive Energy Transitions, Equity and Community-Based Industrialisation
- Natasha Phuthego — Botswana's Post-Diamond Industrialisation: New Directions for Trade-Resilient and Gender-Transformative Diversification in Southern Africa
13h15 – 14h00 — LUNCH BREAK
14h00 – 15h30
SESSION 5Auditorium
AI, Digitalisation and the Future of Industrial Policy
Moderator: Thubelihle Sithole (GARA)
- Presbeus Lwazi Ngcape — Industrial Policy in the Age of AI: Rethinking Jobs, Inequality and Economic Power in South Africa
- Ndirangu Ngunjiri — Beyond the Factory: A Macro Reassessment of Industrial Policy and Economic Growth in the Era of Artificial Intelligence in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Vincent van der Westhuizen — South Africa's Trade in AI-Related Goods: Patterns, Opportunities and Policy Implications
- Albert Oosthuysen — Industrial Policy for a Digital Economy: Incentivising Fibre Infrastructure to Support Inclusive Industrialisation in South Africa
SESSION 6Breakaway
Technology, Innovation and Industrial Upgrading
Moderator: Danae Govender (TIPS)
- Brandon Davoren — Institutional Coordination in South Africa's Electric Mobility Transition: Implications for Industrial Policy and Industrialisation
- Nozipho Ziqubu — Industrial Policy and Technological Upgrading: Lessons from Asia and Africa
- Sandile Mbatha — Innovation Without Industrialisation: Technological Capability and the Structural Decoupling of Innovation and Manufacturing in South Africa
- Steve Onyeiwu [online, USA] — Thinking Outside the Box: How Rwanda and Tanzania are Using Industry Policy to Foster Structural Transformation
15h30 – 16h00 — TEA BREAK
END OF DAY 1
DAY TWO — 05 August 2026
08h30 – 08h50
Registration, tea and coffee (in-person) / Participants log in (virtual)
08h50 – 08h55 — Welcome Auditorium
Saul Levin (TIPS)
09h00 – 10h30
SESSION 7Auditorium
Green Industrial Policy and the Energy Transition
Moderator: Gillian Chigumira (TIPS)
- Piera Wanjau — Green Industrial Policy in Africa: Pathways for Climate-Resilient Structural Transformation in a Fragmenting Global Economy
- Nokuthula Mokgele — Designing Fiscal and Industrial Policies for South Africa's Green Hydrogen Industry that Achieve Domestic Decarbonisation and Industrial Development Goals
- Glen Robbins — Green Growth through Industrial Policy Budgets: The Case of the South African Department of Trade and Industry
- Gideon Ndubuisi [online, Amsterdam] — Regionalizing 'Green' Transition Minerals for Structural Transformation in Africa
SESSION 8Breakaway
Just Transition, Climate Governance and Workforce Change
Moderator: Phumzile Ncube (SARChI, UJ)
- Simbarashe Mhaka — Building a Just Future: Policy Solutions for South Africa's Coal Workforce Transition – Insights from Global Experience
- Chere Monaisa — Social Movement Unionism, Just Transition and Green Industrial Policy
- Michael Hector — Green Industrialisation and What It Means for South Africa
- Eric Lubangu Muamba [online, DRC] — Green Transition, Strategic Dependency and the Limits of Industrial Upgrading: Governance of the EV Battery Value Chain in the Democratic Republic of Congo
10h30 – 10h45 — TEA BREAK
10h45 – 12h15
SESSION 9Auditorium
Climate Risk, Green Infrastructure and Industrial Financing
Moderator: Kiru Sichoongwe (PKU)
- Canicio Dzingirai — Climate-Induced Floods and Trade Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Angelo Macuacua — Green Roads, Broken Budgets: How Decarbonisation Threatens the Fiscal Foundations of Road Maintenance in Southern Africa
- Jaco Human — Gas Roadmap for South Africa: An Industry-Led Pathway to Regional Industrialisation, Energy Security and Growth
SESSION 10Breakaway
Special Economic Zones, Place-Based Development and Local Industrialisation
Moderator: TBC
- Selwyn Willoughby — Linking Industrial Policy to Local Impact: The Atlantis Community–Industrial Nexus in Action
- Tariro Chivige — Green Special Economic Zones as Catalysts for Sustainable Reindustrialisation in Africa: Lessons from the Atlantis Special Economic Zone for Green Technology
- Amelia David Machava — The Quality of Public Services as a Determining Factor for Investment Attractiveness in the Nacala Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
- Anthony Patrick — Digitally Enabled Industrial Parks and Financing Ecosystems: Rethinking Place-Based Industrial Policy Transformation in Africa
12h15 – 13h00 — Closing Panel Discussion Auditorium
Moderator: Nokwanda Maseko (TIPS)
Implications of the changing geopolitical, technological and economic environment for industrial policy in Africa over the coming decade
- Faizel Ismail (AfCFTA Advisory Council)
- Elvis Avenyo (SARChI)
- Neva Makgetla (TIPS)
Closing: TBC
13h00 — LUNCH
END OF DAY 2