Editing Economy of South Africa (section)

==Comparison with other emerging markets==
According to a December 2010 article by the South African [[Government Communication and Information System]]'s now-defunct BuaNews news service, South Africa was said to compare well to other [[emerging market]]s on affordability and availability of capital, [[financial market]] sophistication, business tax rates and infrastructure, but to fare poorly on the cost and availability of labour, education, and the use of technology and innovation.<ref name="brazilian-study">{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/cnisurvey-141210.htm|title=SA fares well in emerging markets study|access-date=11 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115742/http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/cnisurvey-141210.htm|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> South Africa does have expertise in the Space industry, and students learning more through the South African [[SEDS]]. With 
the correct government support, South Africa can increase the jobs in the manufacturing, testing, and analysis sectors of the growing Space industry.

Released in early December 2010 and no longer available online, the survey by Brazil's National Confederation of Industry, "Competitividade Brasil 2010: Comparaçao com Paises Selecionados", (Competition Brazil: A comparison with selected countries), found South Africa to have the second most sophisticated financial market and the second-lowest effective [[business tax]] rate (business taxes as a percentage of company profits), out of 14 surveyed countries.

The country was also ranked fourth for ease of accessing capital, fourth for cost of capital, sixth for its [[Transport in South Africa|transport infrastructure]] (at the time considered better than that of China, India, Mexico, Brazil and Poland, but behind that of Korea and Chile), and seventh for [[foreign direct investment]] as a percentage of GDP: in 2008 it was over 3% of the GDP.<ref name="brazilian-study"/>

Nevertheless, South Africa is falling behind other emerging markets, such as India and China, owing to several factors: the country is relatively small, without the advantage of a huge domestic customer base; it has had for decades an unusually low rate of saving and investment, partly because of low disposable income; an inadequate education system results in an acute shortage of skilled manpower; a strong and volatile currency deters investors and makes its exports less competitive; the infrastructure, though far better than in the rest of Africa, suffers from severe bottlenecks, including scheduled power shortages, and urgently needs upgrading.<ref name="econ-jobless"/>

In 2011, after a year of observer status, South Africa officially joined the [[BRICS]] group of now-five emerging-market nations at the [[2011 BRICS summit|summit]] held in [[Sanya]], Hainan, China.<ref>Blanchard, Ben and Zhou Xin, reporting; Ken Wills, editing, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110415002432/http://af.reuters.com/article/southAfricaNews/idAFL3E7FE13B20110414 "UPDATE 1-BRICS discussed global monetary reform, not yuan"], ''Reuters Africa'', 14 April 2011 9:03&nbsp;am GMT. Retrieved 14 April 2011.</ref>