Policy and trade issues for a future regional biofuels market in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the domestic political and legislative context surround biofuels initiatives to highlight what opportunities exist for establishing a biofuels trade network between South Africa (as an anchor market) and its neighbours, specifically in Zambia and Mozambique. By analysing global developments in major biofuel importers, reasons for policy inertia in South Africa, and recent experiences with biofuels investments, we suggest that the likelihood for a regional biofuels market developing is slender without addressing land-related challenges in producer countries and revising South Africa’s domestic legislation.

KEYWORDS:

• Regional integration
• bioethanol
• biofuels

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• O13
• Q10

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The EU trade agreements with Guatemala, Pakistan, and Peru included provisions to import ethanol (Beckman 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU WIDER).