The faculties at the North-West University (NWU) are doing exciting work on the research front.
Prof Moses Retselisitsoe Phooko is the director of Professional Development and Community Engagement in the Faculty of Law. His research is on the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He explains more about what his research entails.
Vickey de Villiers, a master’s student in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), recently received the 2022 Founder’s Medal by the Economic Society of South Africa for the best master’s research paper submitted at a South African university.
The better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0,6% in the second quarter of 2023 is welcome news, as it has extended its gains for a second consecutive time.
Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says this demonstrates a noteworthy degree of resilience in the economy. This has mainly been the outcome of more moderate Eskom blackouts in June compared with April and May, together with other mitigating factors that helped to generate better growth figures.
Prof Zandri Dickason-Koekemoer, from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) TRADE research focus area was recently inaugurated as full professor.
Her inaugural lecture was titled "Cracking the Code: Investor Behaviour and Financial Decision-Making".
Without quality oversight, output suffers. Without transparency, deception thrives. Misinformation and misinterpretation are propagated to become the norm as fiction becomes indistinguishable from fact. In a developing country such as South Africa that faces a multitude of challenges, this cannot be allowed.
An example of this is an economy that is increasingly struggling to awake from a prolonged slumber caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, rolling blackouts and widespread corruption in institutions fundamental to the health of the country.
By Phenyo Mokgothu and Lerato Tshweu
Prof Ireen Choga from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences delivered her inaugural lecture on 24 August 2023.
Her lecture was titled “Exports and export Diversification: key drivers and trends in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
She says this was not only an academic turning point, but also a deeply personal milestone for her.
Good economic news is that the consumer price index (CPI) (headline inflation) for July has again shown a welcome declining tendency, reaching 4,7% from 5,4% in June.
Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU), says this is not only a two-year low for the CPI but is also much better than market expectations.
“Core inflation further moderated to a ten-month low of 4,7% from 5,0% in June. The omens for the inflation outlook in South Africa look promising.”
North-West University alumnus Jan-Pierre Botes, a chartered accountant, registered auditor and industry specialist, recently presented a guest lecture on the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on external auditing at the NWU’s Vanderbijlpark Campus.
A delegation from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Accounting Sciences recently attended the International Tax Conference on Distributive Tax Justice in the Global Economy.
The conference, hosted by the University of Pretoria’s Department of Taxation, brought together leading experts from around the world to discuss the challenges and opportunities of distributive tax justice in the 21st century.
The Covid-19 pandemic has left an indelible scar on the face of South Africa’s tourism sector, and although cosmetic touch-ups have restored some of its previous splendour, some extensive surgery is still required to get it back to rude health.